Multi-layer circuit construction methods and structures with customization features and components for use therein

ABSTRACT

Multilayer circuit assemblies are made by stacking circuit panels having contacts on their top surfaces, through conductors extending between top and bottom surfaces and terminals connected to the bottomend of each through conductor. The terminals and contacts are arranged so that when the panels are stacked the terminals on the bottom of one panel are in alignment with the contacts on the top surface of the immediately underlying panel. The panels are selectively treated on their top and/or bottom surfaces so as to selectively disconnect or connect each contact to a terminal on the bottom surface of the same panel. For example, the top surface of the panel may be selectively etched to disconnect a contact from one through conductor and hence from the associated terminal. The aligned terminals and contacts are nonselectively connected to one another at each interface so that wherever a terminal and contact on adjacent panels are aligned with one another there are connected to one another. This forms composite vertical conductors extending through a plurality of the panels. The selective treatment of the panel top and bottom surfaces provides selective interruptions in the vertical conductors. A circuit panel precursor having the through conductors and methods of making the same are also provided.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/105,641 filed Aug. 12,1993, now abandoned, which is a divisional of application Ser. No.07/816,634, filed Dec. 31, 1991, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,312.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of electrical circuitry, andmore particularly relates to multi-layer circuit structures such asmulti-layer circuit boards, to components and methods utilized infabrication of such structures and to methods of making the same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Electrical components are commonly mounted on circuit panel structuressuch as circuit boards. Circuit panels ordinarily include a generallyflat sheet of a dielectric material with electrical conductors disposedon a major, flat surface of the panel or on both major surfaces. Theconductors are commonly formed from metallic materials such as copperand serve to interconnect the electrical components mounted to theboard. Where the conductors are disposed on both major surfaces of thepanel, the panel may have additional conductors extending through thedielectric layer so as to interconnect the conductors on oppositesurfaces. Multi-layer circuit board assemblies have been made heretoforewhich incorporate plural, stacked circuit boards with additional layersof dielectric materials separating the conductors on mutually facingsurfaces of adjacent boards in the stack. These multi-layer assembliesordinarily incorporate interconnections extending between the conductorson the various circuit boards in the stack as necessary to provide therequired electrical interconnections.

Electrical components which can be mounted to circuit panel structuresinclude so-called "discrete" components and integrated circuits whichinclude numerous components in a single chip. Chips of this nature canbe mounted on elements commonly referred to as "chip carriers" which arespecialized circuit panel structures. A chip carrier may be incorporatedin a package which is mounted to a larger circuit board andinterconnected with the remaining elements of the circuit.Alternatively, the chip can be mounted directly to the same circuitpanel which carries other components of the system. This arrangement isordinarily referred to as a "hybrid circuit". Relatively large circuitpanels are commonly made of polymeric materials, typically withreinforcement such as glass, whereas very small circuit panels such asthose used as semiconductor chip carriers may be formed from ceramics,silicon or the like.

There have been increasing needs for circuit panel structures whichprovide high density, complex interconnections. The needs have beenparticularly acute in the case of circuit panel structures for use aschip carriers or in hybrid circuits, but are also felt in otherapplications. These needs are addressed by multilayer circuit panelstructures. The methods generally used to fabricate multi-layer panelstructures have certain serious drawbacks. Multi-layer panels arecommonly made by providing individual,. dual sided circuit panels withappropriate conductors thereon. The panels are then stacked one atop theother with one or more layers of uncured or partially cured dielectricmaterial, commonly referred to as "prepregs" disposed between each pairof adjacent panels. Where an electrically conductive ground plane isdesired between adjacent panels, the same may be formed by a layer offoil disposed between two prepregs, the foil and the prepreg beingdisposed between adjacent panels in the stack. Such a stack ordinarilyis cured under heat and pressure to form a unitary mass. After curing,holes are drilled through the stack at locations where connectionsbetween different boards are desired. The resulting holes are thencoated or filled with electrically conductive materials, typically byplating the interiors of the holes.

It is difficult to drill holes with a high aspect ratio or ratio ofdepth to diameter. The drills used to form the holes tend to deviatefrom a straight path as they pass through the various layers, leading toinaccuracies in placement of the holes. Moreover, there is always somemisalignment between the various boards in the stack. Tolerance zonesmust be provided around the intended location of each hole in each panelto compensate for these factors. Small drills are prone to breakage andhence there is a practical lower limit on hole size. Additionaldifficulties are encountered in depositing conductive material withinsmall holes of high aspect ratio. For all of these reasons, the holesused in assemblies fabricated according to these methods must berelatively large and hence consume substantial amounts of space in theassembly. Moreover, these holes necessarily extend from the top orbottom of the stack. Therefore, even where interconnections are notrequired in the top or bottom layers, space must be provided for holesto pass through these layers so as to provide needed interconnections inthe middle layers. Accordingly, substantial amounts of the availablesurface area on the panels must be allocated to the holes and toaccommodate the tolerance zones ground the holes. Moreover, theelectrical interconnections formed by depositing conductive materials insuch drilled holes tend to be weak and susceptible to failures inducedby stresses encountered in service, including stresses caused bydifferential thermal expansion of the dielectric and conductivematerials. The drilling method and the general nature of the laminatesused therein is described, for example in Doherty, Jr., U.S. Pat. No.3,793,469; and Guarracini, U.S. Pat. No. 3,316,618. Various alternativeapproaches have been proposed.

Parks et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,541,222; Crepeau, U.S. Pat. No. 4,249,032;Luttmer, U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,037; Davies et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,862,790and Zifcak, U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,814 all relate generally to structureswhich have metallic or other conductive elements arranged at relativelyclosely spaced locations on a dielectric sheet with the conductiveelements protruding through the dielectric sheet in both directions.Such a sheet may be sandwiched between a pair of circuit boards and thecircuit boards may be clamped or otherwise held together so as toprovide mechanical interengagement between conductive elements on theadjacent faces of the circuit boards and the conductive elements of thecomposite sheet. In each of these arrangements, the conductive elements,the composite sheet or both is resilient or malleable so as to providefor close interengagement between the conductive elements of thecomposite sheet and the conductors on the circuit boards. Although thesearrangements provide interconnections of a fashion without drilling,they suffer from serious drawbacks including the need for extraneousmechanical elements to hold the assembly together, and limitedreliability.

Beck, U.S. Pat. No. 3,616,532 describes a variant of this approach inwhich small coil springs coated with a fusible solder are mounted ininsulating boards which are then stacked between printed circuit layers.The assembly is heated so as to melt the solder, thereby freeing thesprings to expand into engagement with the conductors on adjacent boardsso that the spring and solder cooperatively form an interconnectionbetween the adjacent circuit boards. Dube et al., U.S. Pat. No.3,509,270 utilizes a similar approach to connection of the two layers onopposite sides of the same circuit board, but in this case the springmay be allowed to expand through a layer of bonding material which holdsthe conductive layers to the opposite sides of the central board.

Dery et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,729,809 discloses the use of ananisotropically conductive adhesive material disposed between opposingsublaminates, the adhesive composition having sufficient conductivityacross the relatively small spaces between conductors on adjacent layersto form an electrical interconnection therebetween, but having lowconductivity across the relatively large spaces between adjacentconductors on the same surface so that it does not produce an unwantedlateral interconnection along one surface. Boggs, U.S. Pat. No.4,935,584 discloses an approach using multiple sublaminates or sheets,each having conductors on it and each having through holes. These sheetsare laminated to one another in such fashion that some of the throughholes are aligned with one another and conductive material is introducedinto the aligned through holes to form a conductor extending in thevertical direction, between the various vertical levels of the assembly.Lemoine et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,024,629 illustrates a generally similarapproach in a multi-layer assembly of the types made from ceramicmaterials.

Phohofsky, U.S. Pat. No. 3,214,827 describes a technique in which pluralcircuit layers are stacked with apertures in the various layers beingaligned, and an interconnecting element is physically advanced into thealigned apertures to form a vertical interconnect. Parks, U.S. Pat. No.3,775,844 uses a multi-layer structure with interconnecting wafers someof which provide "z" access or vertical interconnections, the pluralwafers in the stack being held together either by pressure or by fusing.

Pryor et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,161 forms a multi-layer ceramic bodiedcircuit assembly with copper conductors on opposite sides of one elementand with an interposer or vertical connector structure having solder orsolid wire extending between opposite faces. The conductor bearing andvertical connection structures are stacked one atop the other so thatthe conductors are engaged with the vertical connections in the verticalconnection structures. Each such structure has a layer of a fusibleglass on its major surfaces. These structures are stacked and subjectedto heat and pressure so that the fusible glass on the surfaces of theabutting structures, apparently with additional fusible glass interposedbetween these surfaces, fuse to join the entire assembly into a unitarymulti-layer device. Jeannotte et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,829,601 provides amulti-layer structure with the vertical interconnections formed by postsprotruding vertically from the surfaces of the various layers, the postsbeing aligned with one another and bonded to one another by ametallurgical diffused interface. A separate insulating layer isdisposed between the circuit bearing layers to insulate these from oneanother.

Berger et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,788,766 uses conductor bearing circuitlamina having hollow, eyelet-like via structures, each such viastructure having a rim protruding vertically from the surroundingstructure. Each such via structure is provided with a thin layer of aconductive bonding material. In making the multi-layer structure,dielectric bonding films are interposed between the circuit bearinglamina. The dielectric films have apertures in locations correspondingto the locations of the eyelet structures, in the adjacent circuitbearing lamina. Thus, the upstanding rims of the eyelet structures canbear upon one another when the assembly is forced together under heatand pressure. The layers of conductive bonding material on the rims ofthe abutting eyelets are said to form bonds between the abutting eyeletsstructures. The dielectric bonding layer must necessarily be quite thinand the dielectric bonding layer must also have the holes in it at thespecific locations required to form the interconnections. Further, eachof these holes must be substantially larger than the eyelet rims. Thetolerance of this system for deviations from planarity or paralleling,for misalignment between lamina and for misalignment between the laminaand the dielectric bonding films is limited. Moreover, only surface orpoint bonds are formed between abutting eyelet rims which tends to limitthe strength of the vertical interconnections.

Ryan, U.S. Pat. No. 3,606,677 discloses a technique for making amulti-layer circuit board which relies upon controlled viscosity andflow characteristics of an adhesive bonding agent between layers toprevent the adhesive from penetrating into through holes within thelayers. Abolafia et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,795,047 uses circuit bearinglaminates have epoxy coated thereon in a pattern corresponding to thepattern of the vertical interconnects. Conductive spherical particlesare applied and held on this epoxy and form junctions with opposinglayers when multiple layers are pressed together. Reid, U.S. Pat. No.4,216,350 and Grabbe, U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,889 utilize sheet likeinterposers having multiple holes extending through them. Such holes arefilled or partially filled with solder, with or without additionalconductive material such as wire, and the interposer is then disposedbetween components to be connected and heated so as to form a pluralityof soldered joints simultaneously. Bohrer et al., U.S. Pat. No.3,077,511 utilizes a similar approach for connecting multiple layers ofa printed circuit. In this case, the solder bearing interposer includesa dielectric film which apparently remains in place after the solder isfused.

Despite all of these efforts toward manufacture of multi-layer laminarelectrical circuits, there have still been needs for furtherimprovements in such circuits and in the materials and components usedto manufacture the same.

THE LAMINATION TECHNIQUE INVENTION

As further discussed below, preferred embodiments of the presentinvention utilize materials and techniques disclosed and claimed in theco-pending, commonly assigned U.S. patent application entitled,"Multi-Layer Circuit Structures, Methods of Making Same and Componentsfor Use Therein" of Thomas H. DiStefano et al, Ser. No. 07/815,401 filedDec. 31, 1991 U.S. Pat. No. 5367764. Said U.S. patent application namestwo of the present inventors together with Scott G. Ehrenberg. Said U.S.patent application is referred to herein as the "contemporaneous jointapplication". The subject matter set forth in the contemporaneous jointapplication is referred to herein as the "lamination techniqueinvention". As the lamination technique invention can be, and mostpreferably is, utilized in certain preferred embodiments of the presentinvention, the teachings of the contemporaneous joint application areincorporated at length hereinbelow to facilitate understanding of thepresent invention.

One aspect of the lamination technique invention provides methods ofmaking multi-layer circuit assemblies. These methods employ a pluralityof circuit panels, each having one or more electrical conductors thereonand each having electrically conductive material at preselectedinterconnect locations on at least one major surface. The method alsoutilizes one or more generally sheetlike interposers each havingpreselected interconnect locations on both major surfaces andelectrically conductive elements extending between interconnectlocations on opposite surfaces. The interposer has a flowable dielectricmaterial on its major surfaces except at its interconnect locations. Atleast some of the electrically conductive material on the circuitpanels, on the interposers, or both at their respective interconnectlocations may be flowable. A method according to this aspect of thelamination technique invention preferably includes the step of stackingthe circuit panels and interposers in superposed relation so that eachinterposer is disposed between two circuit panels, with the majorsurfaces of the interposers and circuit panels confronting one another,and with interconnect locations on the confronting surfaces of thecircuit panels and interposers being aligned with one another. Themethod most preferably further includes the step of causing the flowabledielectric material to flow and conform to the major surfaces of thecircuit panels. The method desirably includes the step of causing theflowable conductive material to flow and join the conductive material onthe circuit .panels and on the interposers into continuous electricalconductors extending between adjacent circuit panels at their respectiveinterconnect locations. Most preferably, the flowable dielectric andflowable conductive materials are caused to flow concomitantly with oneanother in a single step involving application of heat and pressure tothe stacked circuit panels and interposers.

The flowable dielectric material on the interposers fills inirregularities on the major surfaces of the circuit panels. Inparticular, where the circuit panels have electrical conductorsextending along their major surfaces these often formed as raised stripson the panel surface. The flowable dielectric material fills the spacesbetween these raised strips, so that each strip is fully surrounded bysolid dielectric material after the fabrication procedure. This protectsthe conductors on the circuit panels from atmospheric effects such ascorrosion and also eliminates undesirable electrical effects andstructural problems resulting from air voids or pockets adjacent theconductors.

The electrically conductive elements carried by the interposers formparts of the electrical connections between adjacent circuit panels.Most preferably, the conductive elements of each interposer are broughtinto abutting or juxtaposed relation with the conductive materials ofthe adjacent circuit panels at each interconnect location before thedielectric material is caused to flow. The use of conductive material onthe interposers to form conductive paths between adjacent circuit boardallows the use of interposers having substantial thickness.

Each interposer most desirably includes a generally sheetlike interiorelement and flowable dielectric material on opposite surfaces of suchinterior element. The interior element desirably is adapted to remaindimensionally stable throughout the process, and hence reinforces theinterposers against undesired dimensional changes in directions parallelto the planes of the circuit panels. The interior element mayincorporate an electrically conductive structure which serves to definea potential plane such as a ground plane in the finished assembly. Theinterior element of each interposer may include a porous structure suchthat flowable dielectric material can be forced into the interior volumeof the porous structure when the dielectric material is in its fluidstate. Thus, the porous structure can absorb excess flowable dielectricmaterials. As further discussed below, this allows the interposers tocompensate for uneven circuit panel thicknesses and variations in thenumber of raised conductive strips on different areas of the circuitpanels.

A further aspect of the lamination technique invention providesadditional methods of making multi-layer circuit assemblies. Thesemethods also utilize a plurality of circuit panels each having at leastone electrical conductor thereon and each having electrically conductivematerial at preselected interconnect locations on at least one majorsurface. These methods also use at least one generally sheetlikeinterposer as aforesaid. The interposers and circuit panels are stackedso that each interposer is disposed between a pair of adjacent circuitpanels with the major surfaces of the interposers and circuit panelsconfronting one another. The stacking step includes the step of aligningthe interconnect locations of each interposer surface with theinterconnect locations on the confronting circuit panel surface tothereby form sets of aligned interconnect locations each such setincluding interconnect locations on two circuit panels and on bothsurfaces of the interposer disposed therebetween. Thus, each such set ofaligned interconnect locations includes the conductive material of oneconductive element on the interposer, and the conductive material of oneinterconnect location on each of the adjacent circuit panels. At leastsome of the conductive material in each set of aligned interconnectlocations is flowable. Methods according to this aspect of thelamination technique invention preferably include the step of causingthe flowable conductive material to flow so as to join the conductivematerial in each set of aligned interconnect locations into a continuouselectrical conductor extending between adjacent circuit panels. Mostpreferably, these methods include the step of capturing excess flowableelectrically conductive material at at least of some sets of alignedinterconnect locations, and preferably at each such set, in at least onereservoir within at least one of the circuit panels or within theinterposer.

Most preferably, some of the stacked elements (the circuit panels andthe interposers) have hollow, tubular passageways or vias extending intothem from their major surfaces at the interconnect locations, and haveconductive material disposed in each such via. The other, matingelements preferably have masses of flowable conductive material exposedat their interconnect locations. The space within the vias may providethe reservoirs for capturing excess flowable conductive material. In aparticularly preferred arrangement, the vias are provided in the circuitpanels, and the conductive material extending into the vias may be inthe form of a hollow, tubular metallic shell lining each of the vias. Inat least some of these locations, the via, and the conductive materialdisposed therein may extend entirely through the circuit panel so thatthe conductive material within the via interconnects conductors onopposite major surfaces of the circuit panel. Where the vias are formedin the circuit panels, the interposers may have holes extending betweeninterconnect locations on opposite major surfaces. A conductive elementin the form of a unitary mass of flowable conductive material may bedisposed within each such hole. In the assembly process, the conductivematerial of each such unitary mass may flow into the vias of circuitpanels disposed on opposite major surfaces of the interposer, therebyjoining the conductive material in both such vias into a unitaryelectrical conductor.

Because the flowable conductive material at the interconnect locationscan be provided in excess, and any excess will be taken up within thereservoirs, the flowable conductive material can assure reliableconnections between the circuit panels even where the circuit panelsdeviate somewhat from precise planarity. Also, the flowable conductivematerial can form substantial, low resistance, reliable electricalconnections even where there is substantial deviation from exact,precise alignment of the interconnection locations on the variouscircuit panels and interposers.

The most preferred methods according to the lamination techniqueinvention combine the features of both aspects of the inventiondiscussed above.

Further aspects of the lamination technique invention provideinterconnection and bonding interposers for making electrical circuitassemblies. These interposers preferably include a generally lameliar,sheetlike or planar body having a pair of oppositely facing majorsurfaces and interconnect locations on both major surfaces, there beingelectrically conductive elements extending through the body betweeninterconnect locations on opposite major surfaces. The body includes aflowable dielectric material distributed over the major surfaces exceptat the interconnect locations. The flowable dielectric material may bedisposed in layers substantially covering each major surface of the bodyexcept at the interconnect locations. The body may include an interiorelement disposed between the major surfaces, such as a sheetlikeelectrically conductive potential plane element or an aperture, porouselement having apertures adapted to take up the flowable dielectricmaterial when the flowable dielectric material is in its fluid state.The flowable dielectric material may be a material such as athermosetting polymer, thermoplastic polymer, an unreacted or partiallyreacted polymer precursor or combinations thereof. The flowabledielectric material desirably is an adhesive material. The conductiveelements extending through the body of the interposer desirably includea flowable electrically conductive material, the flowable conductivematerial being exposed at each major surface of the interposer. Theflowable conductive material may be a wholly metallic material such as asolder or else may include a non-metallic material. Interposersaccording to this aspect of the present invention can be utilized in themethods discussed above with reference to the lamination technique.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

One aspect of the present invention provides methods of making amulti-layer circuit assembly. A method according to this aspect of thepresent invention preferably includes the step of providing a pluralityof circuit panels which include a first circuit panel having adielectric body with oppositely directed top ad bottom major surfaces.This first circuit panel has contacts on its top surface at locations ofa first pattern, terminals on its bottom surface and through conductorselectrically connected to the terminals. These through conductors extendto the top surface of the panel. The plurality of circuit panelsutilized in the method also includes a second circuit panel having adielectric body with a bottom surface. The second circuit panel hasterminals at locations of the aforementioned first pattern on the bottomof the panel. In the step of providing these circuit panels, the firstcircuit panel is customized by selectively treating the top surface ofthis panel so that less than all of the through conductors of the firstcircuit panel are connected to contacts of such panel.

The method preferably includes the steps of stacking the first andsecond circuit panels in superposed, top surface to bottom surfacerelation so that the top surface of the first panel faces the bottomsurface of the second panel at a first interface therebetween, and sothat the first patterns on the facing surfaces are in registration withone another. Accordingly, the contacts of the first panel are alignedwith the terminals of the second panel at at least some, and typicallyall, locations of the in-registration patterns. The method furtherincludes the step of nonselectively connecting all of the alignedcontacts and terminals at said first interface. That is, the connectingstep is conducted so that wherever a contact of the first panel isaligned with a terminal of the second panel, such contact and terminalare electrically connected to one another. Those through conductors ofthe first panel which happen to be connected to contacts of the firstpanel on the top surface thereof will be electrically connected to theterminals on the bottom surface of the second panel. However, becauseless than all of the through conductors on the customized first circuitpanel are electrically connected to contacts of that panel, less thanall of the through conductors in the first panel will be connected tothe terminal on the second panel.

Preferably, the dielectric body of the second circuit panel is agenerally sheet-like or plate-like structure having a top surfacedirected oppositely from but generally parallel to the bottom surface.The second circuit panel most preferably has through conductorselectrically connected to at least some, and preferably all, of theterminals on the bottom surface of such panel. These through conductorsextend to the top surface of the second circuit panel. Thus, thosethrough conductors of the first circuit panel which are joined tocontacts on the first circuit panel and hence to terminals on the bottomsurface of the second circuit panel, will be joined with the throughconductors of the second circuit panel and merged to form a continuouselectrical conductor extending through the two panels. Such conductorsare commonly referred to as "vertical" or "Z-direction" conductors.

Whether or not a particular through conductor of the first circuit panelis joined with a through conductor of the second circuit panel dependsentirely upon whether or not the through conductor of the first circuitpanel is connected to one of the contacts on the top surface of thefirst circuit panel. That in turn is controlled by the selectivetreatment applied to the top surface of the first circuit panel.Accordingly, methods according to this aspect of the invention providefor selective control of interconnections in the vertical direction bythe selective treatment of the circuit panel top surface. Techniques forselectively treating the exposed, major surfaces of circuit panels arewell developed. These techniques can be readily applied in volumeproduction as well as in relatively short lead-time, low-quantity customproduction. For example, the selective treatment step may includeprocesses such as photo-etching, selective electroplating, laserablation and the like. The same selective treatment step can be used toselectively connect the through conductors to elongated surfaceelectrical conductors extending along the top surface, the bottomsurface, or, preferably, both such surfaces of each panel. Indeed, theselective treatment step may also involve formation of the surfaceconductors. In a particularly preferred arrangement, the step ofproviding such circuit panels includes the step of providing circuitpanel precursors, each having the through conductors formed therein andeach having a layer of electrically conductive material on each of thetop and bottom surfaces. Such precursors may be provided as stock itemswhich can be readily customized through simple treatment of theirexposed top and/or bottom surfaces. There is no need for the elaboratetooling or preparation required to provide individual customized circuitpanels with through conductors only at specially selected locations. Theselective treatment step may include the step of providing a resistpattern on each such conductive layer then exposing such conductivelayer through one or more treatment media, such as etching or furtherplating solutions, so that after such exposure electrically conductivematerial remains only at those areas not covered by the resist pattern.

In a particularly preferred arrangement, the step of nonselectivelyconnecting the contacts on the top surface of the first panel with theterminals on the bottom surface of the second panel includes the step ofplacing an interposer bearing discrete masses of flowable conductivematerial at the interface between these panels so that the masses aredisposed at all locations of the aforementioned first pattern. Theflowable conductive material of each such interposer is then brought toa flowable condition, thereby fusing each contact of the first panel andthe terminal of the second panel aligned therewith into a electricallyconductive unitary body. Most preferably, the method includes the stepof bonding the dielectric bodies of the first and second panels to oneanother. The interposer and bonding technique used in the preferredmethods according to the present invention may include the features ofthe lamination technique invention. Thus, the interposer may incorporateflowable dielectric material which serves both to bond the facingsurfaces of the first and second panels to one another and also toelectrically insulate these surfaces from one another except at thelocations of the first pattern, where the flowable conductive materialis provided. A very significant benefit afforded by the preferredarrangements according to the present invention is that the interposerneed not be customized. That is, the interposer may be a standard itemhaving flowable conductive material at every location of the firstpattern. If a through conductor of the first panel is connected to acontact lying at a particular location of the first pattern, thatthrough conductor will be connected to one of the terminals of thesecond panel, by the flowable conductive material, and thus the throughconductor of the first panel will be connected to a through conductor ofthe second panel. If the through conductor of the first panel is notconnected to a contact at a particular location of the first pattern,the flowable conductive material will be present and will not serve tointerconnect the through conductor of the first panel with a terminal orthrough conductor of the second panel. Again, because the vertical or"Z-direction" interconnections are controlled by the selective treatmentapplied to the first or top surface of the first panel, there is no needfor customization of the interposer or selective placement ofelectrically conductive material between the panels at only thoselocations where vertical conductors are desired.

The preferred methods according to this aspect of the invention thusprovide essentially complete freedom to customize the multilayer circuitpanel assembly. In a preferred form, the methods according to thisaspect of the present invention can incorporate the advantages of thelamination technique invention as well. Methods according to this aspectof the invention can be used with three or more panels. Thus, the secondpanel can have contacts on its top surface, and at least some (butpreferably less than all) of the conductors of the second circuit panelare electrically connected to contacts on the top surface of that panel.Thus, the top surface of the second panel may be selectively treatedsubstantially the same way as discussed above with reference to thefirst panel. The method desirably further includes the step of providinga third circuit panel having a dielectric body with a bottom surfaceand, preferably, with a top surface parallel thereto. The third panelhas terminals on its bottom surface. Preferably, the contacts on the topsurface of the second panel, and the terminals on the bottom surface ofthe third panel are disposed at locations of a second pattern. The thirdpanel is superposed on the second panel so that the bottom surface ofthe third panel faces the top surface of the second panel at a secondinterface, with the second patterns in registration with one another.Thus, contacts on the top surface of the second panel and terminals onthe bottom surface of the third panel are aligned with one another. Theso-aligned contacts and terminals at this second interface arenonselectively connected. This nonselective connection step may includean interposer as discussed above with reference to the first interface,except that the interposer used at the second interface has theelectrically conductive material at locations of the second pattern. Thethird panel desirably has a top surface and through conductors extendingfrom the terminals on the bottom surface of the third panel to the topsurface.

Through conductors of each of the first, second and third panels mayextend substantially vertically between the top and bottom surfaces ofthe respective panels. The stacking and superposing steps may beperformed so that the through conductors of the first and third panelsare aligned with one another. For example, the terminals of each panelmay be defined by the bottom ends of the through conductor in suchpanel, as where the through conductors include vias extending into thepanel with the bottom ends of the vias forming the terminals. In thiscase, the through conductors of the first and third panels may bedisposed at locations of the second pattern, whereas the throughconductors of the second panel may be disposed at locations of the firstpattern. In this fashion, the assembly will have composite verticalconductors extending in a zigzag fashion through the various panels.

Each panel may have a generally sheet-like internal electricallyconductive element such as a ground plane element disposed between thetop and bottom surfaces of the panel. Each panel may have risersextending from such internal element to the top or bottom surface of thepanel at riser locations spaced apart from the through conductors. Theselective treatment step may be performed so as to leave less than allof the through conductors or surface conductors of each panel connectedto the risers of such panel. Thus, less than all of the throughconductors and/or less than all of the surface conductors are connectedto the sheet-like internal element. Here again, essentially completefreedom of design as to which conductors, if any, are connected to theinternal element or ground planes is provided, but the onlycustomization steps necessary to provide this freedom are incorporatedin the selective treatment of the panel surfaces.

A further aspect of the present invention provides multi-layer circuitassemblies. A circuit assembly in accordance with this aspect of thepresent invention may include a plurality of circuit panels as discussedabove in connection with the methods of the present invention. Thesepanels typically include at least one panel of a first set and at leastone panel of a second set. Each panel has the dielectric body withoppositely directed top and bottom surfaces and plural throughconductors. Each panel has terminals on its bottom surface, each suchterminal being connected to one such through conductors, and each panelhas contacts on its top surface. At least some, but most preferably lessthan all of the contacts on the top surface of each panel are connectedto the through conductors of that panel. Each panel of the first set hasits contacts at at least some locations of a first pattern and hasterminals at all locations of a second pattern. The panels of the secondset have the reverse arrangement, i.e., they have contacts at least somelocations of the second pattern and have terminals at all locations ofthe first pattern. The panels are superposed on one another in topsurface to bottom surface facing arrangement with panels of the firstand second sets arranged alternately and hence define at least interfacetherebetween. The first patterns of the various panels are aligned withone another and the second patterns of the various panels are alsoaligned with one another. Thus, the contacts of each panel are alignedwith the terminals of another panel at each interface. Preferably, allof the aligned contacts and terminals are connected to one another ateach interface so that at least some of the through conductors of eachpanel are linked by the so-connected terminals and contacts to throughconductors of the other panels to form composite vertical or Z-directionconductors extending through a plurality of panels. At least one of thepanels has less than all of its through conductors connected to contactsof such panel, whereby less than all of the through conductors in thatpanel will be connected to through conductors of the next higher panelin the stack.

Most preferably, the panels have elongated surface conductors extendingalong the top and bottom surfaces and there is an insulation layer ateach interface separating the elongated conductors on adjacent panelsfrom one another. The elongated surface conductors desirably extend inmutually perpendicular first and second directions along the surfaces ofthe panel. Most preferably, the elongated conductors on the top surfaceof each panel extend in a first one of said directions and the elongatedconductors on the bottom surface of each panel extend in the other oneof such directions. The patterns of the terminals and contacts desirablyare rectilinear grids defining columns and rows, the columns beingparallel to the first direction and the rows being parallel to thesecond direction, so that the columns and rows of contacts and terminalsextend parallel to the elongated conductors on the surfaces of thepanel. The through conductors in the various panels desirably extendvertically upwardly from the terminals of each such panel, so that thethrough conductors are disposed in the rectilinear first and secondpatterns. Most preferably, the first pattern and second pattern arereplicates of one another but are offset from one another one of saidfirst and second directions.

Yet another aspect of the invention provides a method of making circuitpanel precursors. Methods according to this aspect of the inventiondesirably include the step of applying a first electrically conductivematerial on a surface of a first dielectric sheet so as to form islandsof conductive material at spaced-apart locations on the dielectricsheet. Most preferably, the first conductive material is applied so asto form a generally continuous layer of conductive material withapertures extending through it, each island of conductive material beingdisposed within one such aperture. The method further includes the stepof applying a second dielectric material over the first conductivematerial so as to provide a second dielectric sheet and thereby form alaminate with the first conductive material disposed between the twodielectric sheets. The surfaces of the sheets remote from the firstconductive material form the top and bottom surfaces of the laminate.The two dielectric materials cooperatively surround each of the islandsof a conductive material and insulate each island from the remainder ofthe first conductive material.

The method most preferably further includes the step of forming holes ineach dielectric sheet so that the holes are aligned with the islands ofconductive material and so that each island is exposed through the holesto the bottom and top surfaces of the laminate. The holes in thedielectric sheets may be formed by applying radiant energy to thedielectric sheets after the dielectric sheets are laminated with theconductive islands, as by applying radiant energy to the dielectriclayers of opposite sides of the laminate in registration with theislands of conductive material. The method most preferably furtherincludes the step of depositing an electrically conductive via materialin the holes in the dielectric sheets so as to form through conductorsextending between the top and bottom surfaces of the laminate. The viamaterial joins with the islands of conductive material so that eachthrough conductor includes one such island as part of the conductor.Where the conductive material is provided as a generally continuouslayer with apertures, the through-conductors extend through theapertures in the continuous layer. The precursor may also be providedwith an electrically conductive surface material such that the surfacematerial is electrically connected to the through conductors. Both thevia material and the surface material may be applied simultaneously, asby immersing the laminate, with the holes, in a plating solution or bysputter deposition.

Still further aspects of the present invention provide panel precursors.Precursors according to this aspect of the invention include thedielectric sheets and electrically conductive islands as discussedabove. The dielectric materials of the sheets are joined with oneanother so that the dielectric materials surround each island and formthe top and bottom surfaces of the precursor. Desirably, the precursorhas holes in each dielectric layer and electrically conductive viamaterial extending within such holes from its top and bottom surfaces tothe islands so that the via material and islands form composite throughconductors. Typically, the via material is in the form of hollow,tubular liners in the holes of the dielectric layers. The precursorpreferably further includes surface conductive materials on the top andbottom surfaces, the conductive surface material being connected to thevia materials. The via material may include a noble metal such as goldand the conductive surface material may include a noble metal portionand a base metal portion. The noble metal portion may be exposed atterminal-forming regions of the top and bottom surfaces surrounding thethrough conductors, and at contact-forming region separated from theterminal-forming region. Precursors according to this aspect of thepresent invention can be made as discussed above and can be utilized inthe process of making a multi-layer circuit arrangement as discussedabove. For example, the step of providing the various circuit panels canbe performed by selectively etching the top and bottom surfaces of suchprecursors. The particular via structure incorporated in the precursorprovides significant advantages. The islands of electrically conductivematerials serve to reinforce the dielectric material and to preventdistortion of the holes. Moreover, the conductive islands provideadditional electrically conductive material in each through conductoradjacent the vertical midpoint of the through conductor, i.e., at aboutthe point on the through conductor midway between the top and bottomsurfaces of the precursor. The conductive islands thus reinforce thethrough conductors at those locations where it is particularly difficultto deposit via material.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be more readily apparent from the detailed description ofthe preferred embodiment set forth below, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic, exploded perspective view showing certaincomponents in one stage of an assembly process according to oneembodiment of the lamination technique invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, diagrammatic sectional view along line 2--2 inFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 view similar to FIG. 2 but depicting the same components at alater stage in the process.

Each of FIGS. 4 and 5 are fragmentary, schematic sectional views on anenlarged scale depicting certain features of the embodiment shown inFIGS. 1-3.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary diagrammatic sectional view depicting componentsaccording to a further embodiment of the lamination technique inventionat one stage in an assembly.

FIG. 7 a view similar to FIG. 6 but depicting the components at a laterstage in the manufacturing process.

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary diagrammatic sectional view of a component inaccordance with a further embodiment of the lamination techniqueinvention.

FIGS. 9 and 10 are views similar to FIG. 8 but depicting components inaccordance with other embodiments of the lamination technique invention.

FIGS. 11 and 12 are further fragmentary diagrammatic sectional viewsdepicting components according to yet another embodiment of thelamination technique invention.

FIGS. 13 and 14 are diagrammatic perspective views depicting successivestages in a process according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 15 is a fragmentary, diagrammatic sectional views depictingfurther stages in the process of FIGS. 13-14.

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary, diagrammatic perspective depicting a furtherstate in the process.

FIG. 17 is a sectional view along line 17--17 in FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 is a view similar to FIG. 16 but

FIG. 19 is a sectional view along line 19--19 in FIG. 18.

FIGS. 20 through 22 are diagrammatic perspective views of componentsutilized in further processes according to the present invention.

FIG. 23 is a diagrammatic elevational view of the components illustratedin FIGS. 20 through 22 assembled with one another in a later stage ofthe process.

FIG. 24 is a fragmentary, diagrammatic perspective view showing portionsof the assembly formed from the components of FIGS. 20-22, with partsremoved

FIGS. 25 and 26 are views similar to FIG. 24 but depicting additionalfeatures of the assembly.

FIGS. 27 through 30 are fragmentary diagrammatic perspective viewsillustrating further embodiments of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION - LAMINATION TECHNIQUE

A method of making multi-layer circuit assemblies in accordance with oneembodiment of the lamination technique invention utilizes a plurality ofcircuit panels 10 and interposers 12. Each circuit panel 10 incorporatesa body 14 having oppositely directed major surfaces 16 and 18, the areaof the major surfaces being substantially greater than the area of theedge surfaces 20 connecting these major surfaces. As used in thisdisclosure with reference to an object, "lameliar" means that the objectis generally sheetlike or platelike. In the embodiment of FIGS. 1-3, thebody 14 of each circuit panel is generally lamellar and is alsosubstantially flat, so that the major surfaces 16 and 18 aresubstantially planar and parallel to one another. Each circuit panelincludes electrical conductors 22 on its first or top major surface 16and also has electrical conductors 24 on its second or bottom surface18. As best seen in FIG. 2, conductors 22 have finite thickness, so thatthe exposed surface of each conductor 22, facing away from dielectricbody 14 is raised above the surrounding surface 16 of the dielectricbody. Thus, conductors 22 define a pattern of raised lands on surface16, there being depressions 23 between the conductors. Likewise,conductors 24 define a pattern of raised lands on the second surface 18of each panel 10, with depressions 25 between these raised lands.

Each circuit panel also has vias 26 extending into the panel frominterconnect locations 56 and 58 on major surfaces 18 and 16respectively. As illustrated, vias 26 extend entirely through eachcircuit panel. Electrically conductive material 28 is disposed withineach via 26. The electrically conductive material 28 is in the form of alining or coating on the interior wall of each via, so that theconductive material 28 within each via forms a hollow tube extendingentirely through the circuit panel. Conductive material 28 in certainvias on each circuit panel electrically connects one or more conductors22 on the first or top surface with one or more conductors 24 on thesecond or bottom surface of the panels.

Some or all of the circuit panels 10 may include one or more sheetlikeelectrically conductive potential plane elements 30 disposed within thedielectric body 14 of the circuit panel remote from both major surfaces16 and 18 of the panel. Each potential plane element 30 may be connectedto conductive linings 28 extending through the vias 26 and henceconnected to one or more of the conductors 22 and 24 on the circuitpanel. Apart from such deliberate interconnections the potential planeelements 30 are isolated from the other conductive elements of thecircuit panel.

Circuit panels 14 may incorporate substantially conventional materialsof construction normally used for making circuit panels. Thus, thedielectric bodies of circuit panels 14 may be formed from polymericmaterials such as thermosetting, thermoplastic or reaction curedpolymeric materials or combinations thereof including blends. Among thepolymeric materials which can be used are epoxies, phenolics,elastomers, liquid crystal polymers, ketones, sultones, polyimides,epoxy modified polyimides, fluorinated polymers and combinationsthereof. The dielectric bodies may incorporate reinforcing materialssuch as glass, ceramic, aramid or other high elastic modulus materialssuch as fibers, particles or hollow spheres. Fibrous reinforcements maybe provided either dispersed throughout the other dielectric material ofthe body or as one or more sheets of knit or woven material. Thedielectric bodies may also be formed from inorganic materials such asglass, ceramic, glass-ceramic materials and silicon. The electricallyconductive materials used for the conductors, for the electricallyconductive materials in the vias and for the potential plane elementsmay be metallic conductive materials such as copper or a copper alloy,aluminum, tungsten, molybdenum, nickel-iron alloys such as those knownas Invar, gold, other noble metals and combinations of such metals asalloys or composites. The conductive materials may be provided aslayered structures (not shown) incorporating a plating of one metal onanother. Alternatively or additionally, the conductive portions of thecircuit panels may include intrinsically electrically conductivepolymers or mixtures of nonconductive materials such as nonconductivepolymers with electrically conductive particles, such as dispersions offine metal particles in polymers.

The arrangement of conductors 22 and 24 on each circuit panel, and thepattern of electrical connections between conductors on opposite sidesof each panel are dictated by the requirements of the circuit to beprovided in the finished product. Normally, the different panels used inone assembly will have differing patterns of conductors. Usually, theconductors 22 on one surface of each panel extend predominantly in onedirection, whereas the conductors 24 on the opposite surface of thepanel extend predominantly in a perpendicular direction. The circuitpanels may also include other structures (not shown) for mounting andconnecting active electrical elements.

Each interposer 12 used in the assembly process has a generally lamellarbody 32 having a first major surface 34 and a second major surface 36 ofsubstantially greater surface area than the edge surfaces of the body.The lamellar bodies may be substantially flat, sheetlike structures.Each body 32 incorporates a first layer 38 of a flowable dielectricmaterial at its first surface 36 and a second layer 40 of flowabledielectric material at its second major surface 36. The term "flowable"as used in this disclosure means that the material is capable ofundergoing fluid flow under at least some conditions. The flowablematerials need not be in a fluid or liquid state at room temperature.Also, the flowable materials need not be permanently fluid, but needonly remain in the fluid condition during parts of the manufacturingprocess as discussed below. The flowable materials used in these layersmay be arranged to solidify or "set" permanently after flow during themanufacturing process. The flowable dielectric material may include oneor more polymeric constituents, which may be wholly or partially organicpolymers. Among the polymeric constituents which may be employed areuncured or partially cured reactive curing polymer precursors such aspartially cured epoxy resins, commonly referred to as "B-stage" epoxies.Other flowable dielectric materials include unset or partially setthermosetting polymers and thermoplastic polymers. The flowable materialmay be an adhesive material or may incorporate an adhesive material suchas a curable adhesive or a hot-melt adhesive as one component. That is,the flowable dielectric materials in layers 38 and 40 should be selectedso that these materials will ultimately adhere to the dielectricmaterial disposed on the surfaces of the circuit panels, to theconductive material on such surfaces or both. Such adhesion may occureither upon contact of the flowable dielectric material with thematerials of the circuit panels during flow, or upon setting of theflowable material after such contact. Many reactive curing polymerprecursors such as uncured or partially cured epoxy are inherentlyadhesive. Also, many thermoplastic materials will adhere to othermaterials, after contacting the other materials while the thermoplasticsare in a softened or viscous state.

The flowable dielectric material should be substantially free ofentrapped gas bubbles, and should also be substantially free of volatilematerials. For purposes of the present disclosure, the term"substantially free of volatile materials" should be understood asindicating that volatile materials, if any, present in the flowablematerials, will not form bubbles at the temperatures required to bringthe material to a fluid condition and cure the material when suchtemperatures are applied under about 125 mm Hg absolute pressure. Gasbubbles or volatile materials which are not entrapped, i.e., which arepresent at an exposed surface of the flowable material, ordinarily neednot be considered as such gas or volatiles normally will dissipate inthe early portion of the laminating step without causing bubbles.

The body 32 of each interposer 12 also includes a dimensionally stablesheetlike interior element 42. Interior element 42 is disposed withinbody 32 remote from major surfaces 34 and 36, and extends generallyparallel to these surfaces. As used with reference to a generallylamellar or sheetlike element, the term "dimensionally stable" refers todimensional stability in the directions parallel to the major surfacesof such element. Thus, interior element 42 is resistant to deformationin the directions parallel to its major surfaces and parallel to majorsurfaces 34 and 36 of body 32. However, interior element 42 may beflexible such that the same can be readily bent in directionsperpendicular to the major surfaces. Interior element 42 as illustratedis formed from a sheet of a relatively high elastic modulus dielectricmaterial. Normally, the elastic modulus of the material constitutinginterior element 42 is higher than the elastic modulus of the flowabledielectric materials. Suitable high modulus dielectric materials for theinterior element include polyimide, epoxy, crystalline polymers andliquid crystal polymers. Interior element 42 may itself incorporatereinforcing materials such as fibers or filaments either in dispersed orwoven sheet form. Among the suitable fibers or filaments are glass andceramic fibers. Interior element 42 may also be formed fromsubstantially rigid, inflexible dielectric materials such as glass orceramic.

Each interposer 12 has a plurality of holes extending entirely throughthe body. Each such hole extends from a first interconnect location 46at the first surface 34 to a second interconnect location 47 at thesecond surface 36. As further set forth below, these interconnectlocations on each interposer are selected to match the desired patternsof interconnect locations on the particular circuit panels 10 whichwould be used with such interposer. That pattern in turn is determinedby the electrical design requirements of the finished circuit.

A unitary conductive element 48 formed from a flowable electricallyconductive material is disposed within each hole of each interposer.Each such conductive element 48 extends entirely through the interposerfrom one major surface to another and hence incorporates a first portionof flowable conductive material exposed at an interconnect location 46on the first major surface 34 of the interposer and a second portion offlowable conductive material exposed at an interconnect location 47 onthe second major surface 36 of the interposer. Each such exposedconductive portion 50 may be flush with the surrounding portions of theinterposer major surface or slightly recessed beneath such surface. Morepreferably, each exposed conductive portion protrudes slightly above thesurrounding portions of the interposer major surface. The flowabledielectric material layers 38 and 40 are interrupted by the holes and byelements 48 so that the flowable conductive material is not present atinterconnect locations 46 and 47 of the interposer.

The flowable conductive material utilized in elements 48 may be ametallic alloy of the type commonly used for brazing and inner lead tapeautomated bonding operations, such as a gold-based flowable alloy. Forexample, a tin-gold brazing alloy may be employed. Such an alloy may beprovided with a gold-rich cover overlying the bulk alloy. Alternatively,the flowable conductive material may incorporate a non-metallicconductive material such as an intrinsically conducting flowable polymersuch as a polyacetylene or an intrinsically non-conducting flowablepolymer or unreacted or partially reacted polymer precursor such as anepoxy resin, together with a conductive material such as a metallicmaterial dispersed in the non-conducting polymer or polymer precursor.As a further alternative, a solder such as lead-tin solder may beemployed. However, as these solders normally require a flux or activatorto achieve reasonably good bonds with the conductive elements of thecircuit panels, they are less preferred. Although such fluxes andactivators can be used, they can generate undesirable "outgassing"during the lamination process, and can leave undesirable residues in thefinished assembly. The conducting material is "flowable" in the samesense as discussed above with respect to the dielectric material. Thatis, the conductive material can be made to flow under appropriateconditions, but need not be in a fluid condition at room temperature.The flowable conductive material desirably is substantially free of gasbubbles and substantially free of volatile materials as well. Also, theflowable conductive material may be arranged to set or harden to asubstantially solid condition after flow. The flowable conductivematerial is also selected so as to form a bond with the conductivematerial of the circuit panel. This bond need not necessarily involvewetting of the circuit panel conductive materials by the flowableconductive material, but should be such as to provide electricalcontinuity therebetween.

Interposers in accordance with this embodiment may be fabricated byco-extruding, laminating or coating a sheet of dimensionally stable,high modulus material suitable for forming the interior element 42 withlayers of the flowable dielectric material suitable for forming layers38 and 40, so as to provide a semi-finished interposer sheet. Thiscoating operation may be performed on a continuous or semi-continuousbasis utilizing substantially conventional coating techniques such ascalendaring, roll coating, dip coating, spray coating, electrostaticcoating, electrophoretic deposition or the like. The semi-finished sheetmay then be punched or drilled to form the holes at the interconnectlocations. Such punching or drilling may be conducted using mechanicaltools such as matched punches and dies, twist drills or the like, orelse may be performed using radiant energy techniques such asapplication of focused laser light. Alternatively, the holes may beformed by chemical etching of dissolution processes. Desirably, eachinterposer is relatively thin, and hence the aspect ratio or ratio oflength to diameter of the holes is relatively low, typically about 3:1or less and ordinarily about 1:1 or less. Such holes can be readily andaccurately formed. Conductive elements 48 may be formed by introducingthe flowable conductive material into the holes in fluid state or byproviding the flowable conductive material as preformed elements in asubstantially rigid condition. For example, the conductive material forforming elements 48 may be provided in the form of a rod or wire and cutto length to form small, disk-like elements 48. Alternatively, elements48 may be punched from a sheet of conductive material. The flowableconductive material may also be applied by deposition processes such aselectrochemical or vacuum deposition, or by printing processes such assilk screen printing. It is not essential that the surfaces of elements48 be precisely flush with the surrounding surfaces 34 and 36 of theinterposer body. Likewise, it is not essential that the flowableconductive elements 48 entirely fill the holes in the interposer body.

The interposers 12 and circuit panels 10 may be assembled with oneanother in an assembly method according to a further embodiment of thelamination technique invention. Most desirably, the circuit panels andthe interposers are inspected before assembly. Each circuit panel shouldbe examined and, desirably, electrically tested prior to assembly withthe other elements of the structure. It is a significant advantage ofthe lamination technique that the circuit panels can be completelyformed, with conductors on both sides where necessary and withconductive connections between conductors on opposite sides before theassembly step, so that all of these elements of each circuit panel canbe fully tested before the circuit panel is assembled to other elements.This greatly reduces the expense and waste associated with defects inthe circuit panels, and greatly enhances the reliability of the ultimatemulti panel assembly. Each circuit panel can be tested by methodsconventionally used for testing double sided circuit boards. Theinterposers likewise can be checked by testing and/or inspection beforeassembly. The tests performed on the interposer desirably include testsfor presence of conductive elements 48 at selected interconnectlocations, absence of such conductive elements at other locations andelectrical continuity of each conductive element 48, so as to assurethat it extends entirely through the interposer. The ability to test thecomponents in advance is particularly useful because the laminationsteps following after the component tests are high-reliability steps. Ifthe individual circuit panels and interposers are good, the finishedassembly almost invariably will be good. This provides a significantadvantage over processes which require drilling or other low-reliabilityoperations after assembly of multiple layers.

The prechecked circuit panels and interposers are arranged in a stack asillustrated, in exploded view, in FIG. 1. Thus, the circuit panels 10and interposers 12 are superposed on one another with their majorsurfaces confronting one another. The circuit panels and interposers arearranged in alternating, interleaved order so that each interposer isdisposed between two circuit panels and hence one interposer is disposedbetween each pair of adjacent circuit panels in the stack. For example,interposer 12a is disposed between adjacent circuit panels 10a and 10b,whereas interposer 12c is disposed between panels 10b and 10c (FIG. 2).Although the panels and interposers are illustrated with spacestherebetween for clarity of illustration in FIGS. 1 and 2, the majorsurfaces of the circuit panels and interposers ordinarily abut oneanother in the stack. The stacking operation is conducted so as to alignthe interconnect locations on each interposer with interconnectlocations on the confronting major surface of the adjacent circuitpanel. Interconnect location 46a, and hence the flowable conductivematerial of conductive element 48a exposed at such interconnect locationis aligned with interconnect location 56a of circuit panel 10a whereasinterconnect location 58a of circuit panel 10b is aligned withinterconnect location 47a on the opposite side of interposer 12a, andhence aligned with the conductive material of element 48a exposed atthat location. There is exposed electric conductive material on eachcircuit panel at each such interconnect location. In the arrangementillustrated the exposed electrically conductive material at eachinterconnect location on each circuit panel includes the electricallyconductive element 28 within a via. For example, via 26a extendsinwardly from the lower major surface 18a of circuit panel 10a, andhence the exposed conductive material at interconnect location 56a onsurface 18a includes the conductive material of conductive element 28awithin via 26a. As will be appreciated, the conductive elements 28extending through each of the circuit panels may constitute exposedconductive material at two separate interconnect locations on twoopposite sides of the circuit panel.

The desired alignment can be achieved manually or by automatic visionand/or robotic placement systems capable of directly observing thepatterns of conductive material on the various elements and aligning theelements accordingly. Alternatively or additionally, the circuit panelsand interposers can be provided with features such as guide holes oredges disposed at preselected locations relative to the interconnectlocations and these guide holes can be engaged with guide pins or rods.

While the conductive materials of bodies 48 and the dielectric materialsof layers 38 and 40 are in a fluid condition, and while the circuitpanels and interposers are maintained in alignment, the circuit panelsand interposers are forced together, as by squeezing the stacked circuitpanels and interposers between a pair of opposed platens 66 (FIG. 3). Ifnecessary to bring the flowable conductive materials of bodies 48 or theflowable dielectric materials of layers 38 and 40 to a fluid state, theinterposers and desirably, also the circuit panels may be heated to anelevated temperature either before or during the pressing operation.Thus, the circuit panels and interposers may be a preheated individuallyprior to stacking, or the entire stack may be heated by applying heat tothe platens during the squeezing operation, or both. As the circuitpanels and interposers are forced together, the flowable conductivematerial at the interconnect locations on each surface of eachinterposer contacts conductive material of the confronting circuit panelat the aligned interconnect location of that circuit panel. For example,the flowable conductive material of body 48a at interconnect location46a on interposer 12a contacts the conductive, tubular element 28 at thealigned interconnect location 56a of circuit panel 10a. Likewise,flowable conductive material at interconnect location 47a flows intocontact with the electrically conductive material at the alignedinterconnect location 58a of circuit panel 10b. The electricallyconductive materials join with the conductive materials of the circuitpanels to form a continuous electrically conductive path. Preferably,the flowable conductive material bonds to the other conductive material.Because the flowable conductive material at each interconnect locationon one surface of each interposer is already electrically connected toflowable conductive material on the opposite surface of the sameinterposer, this forms a continuous conductive path extending betweenthe interconnect locations of adjacent circuit panels. For example, theflowable conductive material of body 48a, including conductive materialat locations 46a and 47a on opposite sides of the interposer joins withthe conductive material of circuit panels 10a and 10b at interconnectlocations 56a and 58a of each such circuit panel to form a continuouselectrical conductor extending between the conductive materials of thetwo circuit panels. This serves to interconnect the conductors 22 and 24on each circuit panel with conductors on other circuit panels.

The flowable dielectric materials 38 and 40 on the surfaces of theinterposers flow into intimate contact with the confronting surfaces ofthe adjacent circuit panels, and fill depressions between conductors onthose surfaces. For example, the flowable dielectric material of layer38a on interposer 12a flows to fill the spaces 25 between conductors 24on surface 18a of circuit panel 10a. The flowable dielectric materialmost preferably bonds to the dielectric bodies of the circuit panels anddesirably also to the surface conductors on the circuit panels. Thus,after such flow, each conductor is entirely surrounded by the dielectricmaterial of the panel bodies 14 and by the flowable dielectricmaterials. This encapsulation of the conductors on the circuit panels isachieved even though the circuit panels do not include a flowabledielectric material at their major surfaces.

After the flowable conductive materials and flowable dielectricmaterials have been allowed to flow in this fashion, the flowablematerials are set or brought to a substantially solid condition.Flowable materials such as metallic solders and thermoplastic materialspreferably are set simply by allowing the stack to cool. Reactivematerials such as epoxies and other polymer precursors may be set byallowing the reaction to proceed. The completed assembly is then readyfor use. Electrical components such as semiconductor chips or discretedevices can be mounted to exposed surfaces of the top and/or bottomcircuit panels 10a and 10c and the electrically connected to theconductors 22 and 24 on those panels. The panel assembly may also becoated, on the exposed surfaces of the top and bottom panels, with aflowable dielectric material to protect the exposed conductors on thosesurfaces. Because the conductors on the interior circuit panel surfaces,abutting an interposer 12 are fully encapsulated within the dielectricmaterial of the interposer and the confronting dielectric material 14 ofthe circuit panel bodies, these conductors are inherently protected fromcorrosion or other deteriorating effects of the atmosphere. Likewise,because these interior conductors are fully surrounded by soliddielectric material of known and predictable electrical properties, theunpredictable electrical effects caused by air voids in the immediatevicinity of a conductor are eliminated.

Several features of the process combine to provide extremely highreliability. Some of the flowable conductive material at each set ofaligned, confronting interconnect locations penetrates into the spaces26 defined in the vias of the circuit panels. The spaces of the viasthus act as reservoirs to take up any excess flowable conductivematerial which may be present at that particular set of interconnectlocations. This serves to absorb variations in distances betweenadjacent circuit panels at the various interconnect locations. If thesurfaces of circuit panels or interposers are not precisely planar, orare not parallel with one another, some portions of a particular circuitpanel may engage the conductive material of the interposer before othersduring the assembly process. However, because the conductive material ofthe interposer is flowable, and because it can flow into the spaceswithin the reservoirs at the interconnect locations, the conductivematerial of the interposer at these first-contacted locations will yieldand allow the panel to move towards the interposer, thus allowing theconductive material of the interposer to contact the conductive materialat other interconnect locations on the same panel. Also, because theconductive material of the interposer can flow into the reservoirsdefined in the circuit panels, the flowable conductive material can makereliable contact over the substantial area of conductive materialdefined by the interior conductive lining 28 of each reservoir.

The flowable dielectric materials of the interposers can achievereliable, full surface contacts with the surfaces of the circuit panelseven where the circuit panels surfaces are irregular or deviatesubstantially from exact planarity and parallelism. Flow of thedielectric materials compensates for any such deviation. Some of theflowable dielectric material may be forced into space previouslyoccupied by flowable conductive material and/or into some or all of thereservoirs defined on the circuit panels. As best seen in FIG. 3, someof the flowable dielectric material of layers 38 and 40 on interposer12a has bulged into space originally occupied by flowable conductivematerial 48a. Also, where a via space or reservoir 56 of a circuit panelconfronts a portion of an interposer which is not provided withconductive material, some of the flowable dielectric material canpenetrate into that via space. For example, some of the flowabledielectric materials of layer 38 on interposer 12b adjacent the bottomof the stack in FIG. 3 is shown as penetrating into the space 26b incircuit panel 10b.

The process is also relatively insensitive to deviations from perfectalignment between the interconnect locations on the various elements. Asillustrated in FIG. 4, the interconnect locations on interposer 12 maybe misaligned relative to the adjacent circuit panels in directionsparallel to the major surfaces of the interposer and panels. Providedthat such misalignment amounts to less than the full diameter of onereservoir or via hole 26, the flowable conductive material 48 of theadjacent interposer will still make contact with the conductive material28 at the interconnect locations of the adjacent circuit panels. Becausethe dielectric material 38 and 40 on the surfaces of each interposer 12is flowable, the dielectric material will not hold the circuit panelaway from the conductive material of the interposer. Rather, both thedielectric material and the conductive material will penetrate intoreservoirs or spaces 26. Likewise, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the circuitpanels on opposite sides of a particular interposer can be misalignedwith that interposer and within one another to a considerable degree butwill still be reliably interconnected by the conductive material of theinterposer. Here again, the dielectric material of the interposer doesnot interfere with the connection. Any excess dielectric material, alongwith any excess conductive material is simply forced into the reservoirsor spaces

The ability to tolerate such misalignment is particularly important withcircuit panels having very small dimensions. As the dimensions, such asthe diameter and distance between adjacent vias of the circuit panelsdiminish, the tolerances encountered in fabrication and alignment of thecircuit panels and interposers amount to progressively largerpercentages of the dimensions themselves. Nonetheless, because thedegree of misalignment which can be tolerated is equal to the fulldiameter of a via 26, substantial misalignments can be tolerated evenwith very small via diameters and very close spacing between adjacentvias. This aspect of the lamination technique invention is particularlyimportant in fabrication of small, densely packed circuit assemblies ofthe type used with semiconductor chips. Particularly preferred circuitpanel assemblies incorporate circuit panels with the vias less thanabout 0.5 mm in diameter, and more preferably less than about 0.25 mm indiameter, spaced at intervals of about 1.0 mm or less and morepreferably 0.5 mm or less.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7, an interposer 12' in accordance with analternate embodiment of the lamination technique invention includes aninterior element 42' having apertures or perforations 43 extendinginwardly from its major surfaces. Layer 38' and 40' of flowabledielectric material extend over opposite major surfaces of interiorelement 42' and hence define the major surfaces 34' and 36' of theinterposer, except at the interconnect locations where flowableconductive material 48' is exposed at the major surfaces of theinterposer.

Interior element 42' may be made from the same materials as discussedabove with reference to the interior element of the interposers.Apertures 43 preferably are separated from one another by webs of theinterior element material, so that the interior element retainssubstantial strength and dimensional stability despite the presence ofthe apertures. Flowable conductive material layers 38' and 40' may beapplied on the surfaces of interior element 42' by any convenientprocess. However, the application process should not be such as tocompletely fill apertures 43 with the flowable dielectric materialduring manufacture of the interposer. Thus, prior to the assemblyprocess, apertures 43 should have appreciable space within themunoccupied by the flowable dielectric material.

As best seen in FIG. 7, an interposer 12' is utilized in a process,substantially the same as that discussed above. As discussed above, whenthe flowable conductive materials 48' and the flowable dielectricmaterials 38' and 40' are in a fluid condition, the stacked circuitpanels and interposers are squeezed between opposed platens so as forceadjacent circuit panels 10' towards one another and thus compressinterposer 12' therebetween. Here again, some of the flowable conductivematerial 48' on the interposer flows into a reservoir space 26' at eachinterconnect location. Here also, the dielectric material on each majorsurface of each interposer flows into intimate contact with theconfronting surfaces of the circuit panels 10' and fills spaces betweenconductors on the surfaces of the circuit panels. The unfilled apertures43 in the interior elements 42' serve as additional reservoirs foraccepting flowable dielectric material. Thus, some of the flowabledielectric material of layers 38' and 40' is forced into these aperturesas the circuit panels 10' are forced towards one another. This permitssubstantial compression of the interposers to occur during thelaminating process, and markedly increases the ability of the system toprovide reliable performance even where the circuit panel surfaces 16'and 18' deviate substantially from exact planarity. Moreover, theapertures provide additional compensation for uneven conductor densitieson different portions of the circuit panel surfaces. Flow of thedielectric material 38' and 40' into apertures 43' compensates for thevolume occupied by conductors 22 and 24 on the surfaces of the circuitpanels. The flowable dielectric material displaced by these conductorscan flow into the unfilled apertures and need not flow laterally,parallel to the circuit panel surfaces.

An interposer 12" in accordance with yet another embodiment of thelamination technique invention is illustrated in FIG. 8. This interposerincorporates an interior element 42" formed from a fibrous material 42"including fibers 70. The fibers 70 cooperatively define interior spaces72, which function in the manner as the discrete apertures 43 of theembodiment discussed above with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7. Masses offlowable conductive material 48" extend through holes in flowabledielectric layers 38" and 40", and in fibrous interior element 42". In avariant of this approach, (not shown) holes may be formed in theflowable dielectric layers 38" and 40" as by laser-ablating these layersselectively after they are assembled with interior element 42". Themasses of flowable conductive material may be provided as separatemasses positioned in these holes, so that the separate masses aredisposed on opposite sides of the interior element. During thelamination process, the flowable conductive material may penetratethrough the interior element from opposite sides thereof, so that theflowable conductive material forms unitary masses extending entirelythrough the interposer. In a further variant, the flowable conductivematerial may be allowed to flow through the interior element and thusform the unitary mass before the laminating process. In yet anothervariant, the masses of flowable conductive material may be deposited onthe interior element, and the flowable dielectric material layers may beselectively deposited on the regions surrounding the conductivematerial. In arrangements such as that shown in FIG. 8 and in theabove-described variants, the unfilled spaces within the interiorelement may serve as a reservoir to take up the flowable conductivematerial during the lamination process.

Interior elements incorporating unfilled spaces, such as the discreteapertures 43 of FIG. 6 and 7 or the inter-fiber apertures 72 of FIG. 8should be arranged to permit flow of the flowable dielectric materialinto the apertures when the dielectric material is in its fluid state,but to provide appreciable resistance to such flow. This will assurethat, when the stacked interposers and circuit panels are forcedtogether, the flowable dielectric material reaches appreciable pressureand hence penetrates into the spaces between conductors and otherirregularities on the circuit panel surfaces before the flowabledielectric completely fills the apertures in the interior element.Stated another way, the resistance to flow of the dielectric materialinto the apertures should be at least about equal to the resistance toflow of the dielectric material into the spaces between conductors onthe circuit panel surfaces. Thus, the dimensions of the apertureopenings at the boundary between the flowable dielectric material layersand the interior elements desirably are not greater than the distancesbetween adjacent conductors on the surfaces of the circuit panels.Smaller aperture openings provide still greater resistance to flow intothe spaces within the interior element.

The interposer 112 illustrated in FIG. 9 has no interior element butinstead has a solid body of flowable dielectric material providingflowable dielectric material at both major surfaces 134 and 136. Inlamination processes which use interposers having no interior elements,the temperature and pressure conditions should be closely controlled sothat the flowable dielectric material of body 138 at surfaces 134 and136 becomes fluid enough to penetrate into spaces between conductors onthe circuit panels, but so that gross flow of the dielectric materialdoes not sweep the conductive elements of the interposer out ofposition. Thus, the flowable conductive materials should be brought to apaste-like or viscous state.

The interposer illustrated in FIG. 9 also has conductive elementsincorporating a composite flowable conductive material 148 formed from adispersion of electrically conductive particles 149 in an electricallynon-conductive polymeric matrix 151. Although this composite material iselectrically conductive, its conductivity is lower than that of a puremetal and therefore the electrical resistance through the entire body148 is relatively high. To provide low resistance conductive pathwaysbetween adjacent circuit panels, a strip-like metallic conductor 153extends substantially the entire thickness of interposer 112, fromadjacent the upper or first surface 134 to adjacent the lower or secondsurface 136, this conductor being in contact with the composite flowableconductive material 148. When this flowable conductive material makescontact with the conductive material of circuit panels on opposite sidesof the interposer, the conductive materials of the circuit panels willbe disposed in proximity to metallic conductors 153. At eachinterconnect location, the conductive material of the circuit panel willbe connected to the metallic conductor 153 of the interposer by only ashort, low-resistance path through the composite flowable conductivematerial.

The interposer illustrated in FIG. 10 differs from those discussed abovein that the flowable conductive elements are not unitary bodies offlowable conductive material extending entirely through the interposer.Rather, each conductive element includes a discrete mass 248 of flowableelectrically conductive material on one major surface of the interposer,a separate mass of flowable electrically conductive material 249 at theopposite major surface and a nonflowable electrical conductor 250extending through the interposer, between these two masses 248 and 149.Also, in the interposer of FIG. 10, some of the interconnect locationson opposite surfaces of the interposer are offset from the electricallyconnected interconnect locations on the opposite side. For example, theinterconnect location defined by mass 248a on major surface 234 isoffset from the electrically connected mass and interconnect location249a on surface 236. This arrangement can be used where the interconnectlocations on adjacent circuit panel surfaces are offset from oneanother.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, an assembly using an interposer 312 having amass of flowable conductive material 348 extending entirely through theinterposer need not have reservoirs in all of the circuit panels. Thus,circuit panel 310b does not have a via hole or reservoir at interconnectlocation 358a. Rather, that interconnect location has only a flat plateor disk of conductive material connected to a electrical conductor 322on the surface of the circuit panel. However, interconnect location 356aon the surface 318 of panel 310a has a reservoir 326 open to surface 318as well as conductive material in the form or a via liner 328 at theinterconnect location. Reservoir 326 accepts excess conductive materialsfrom the body or mass 348 of conductive material in interposer 312during the assembly process. Because body 348 of flowable conductivematerial is entirely in a fluid state during the assembly process,reservoir 326 is effectively in fluid communication with interconnectlocation 358a, on the opposite side of interposer 312 as well as withinterconnect location 356a. Any excess flowable conductive materialwhich may be present at interconnect location 358 can pass upwardly,towards interconnect location 356, so that reservoir 326 effectivelytakes up excess conductive material for both interconnect locations.

The interior element 342 of interposer 312 is metallic, so that the samecan be used as a ground plane or other potential plane in the finishedcircuit assembly. Interior element 342 thus is arranged to contact some,but not all, of the masses 348 of flowable conductive material so as toprovide electrical connections to the potential plane. In the finishedcircuit, interior element 342 is electrically connected through thecircuit panel conductors which are electrically connected to theflowable conductive masses. The remaining flowable conductive masses(not shown) are electrically isolated from the conductive interiorelement 342 by dielectric material surrounding such flowable conductivemasses.

In the arrangement shown in FIG. 12, the circuit panels 410 do not havereservoirs at their respective interconnect locations 456 and 458. Theinterposer 480 has masses of flowable conductive material 448 extendingentirely through the interposer between interconnect locations 446 and447 on opposite sides of the interposer. The interior element 442 of theinterposer defines reservoirs 451 open to each such mass 448, as well asapertures 443 open to the flowable dielectric material layers 438 and440. During the laminating process, excess flowable conductive materialfrom masses 448 may be forced into reservoirs 451 as the circuit panels410 brought together, in much the same way as excess flowable dielectricmaterial from layers 438 and 440 is forced into apertures 443. Thus,each reservoir 451 is in fluid communication with aligned, confrontinginterconnect locations 446 and 456, and with the aligned, confrontinginterconnect locations 458 and 447, so that reservoir 451 can take upexcess flowable conductive material from each such pair of aligned,confronting interconnect locations.

As will be readily appreciated, numerous further variations andcombinations of the features discussed above can be utilized. Merely byway of example, the overall scheme illustrated in FIGS. 1-5 can bereversed so as to provide the circuit panels with masses of flowableconductive material and to provide reservoirs in the form of conductive,tubular elements extending through the interposers. Also, the number ofcircuit panels and interposers used in assemblies according to theinvention can be as many or as few as desired, although normally atleast two circuit panels and at least one interposer would be utilized.The lamellar components can be curved as well as flat. The circuitpanels disposed at the extremities of the stack need not be lameliar.The surfaces of such an extreme circuit panel which do not confront aninterposer may have any desired configuration. For example, the topmostor bottom-most circuit panel may be formed as part of a housing or othercomponent having projections, walls or the like on the side facing awayfrom the stack, or on the stack-facing side outside of the region whichoverlies the stack. Likewise, regions of the interior circuit panelsand/or of the interposers which project laterally out of the stack anddo not confront another element in the stack, may be non-lamellar. Thealignment and lamination processes discussed above can be modified tooperate on a continuous or semi-continuous basis. Thus, the circuitpanels and interposers can be provided in the form of continuous ribbonsor tapes, and the lamination process can be performed using continuouslamination equipment such as nip rollers or the like. Conversely, it isnot essential that all of the components of an individual interposer besecured together prior to stacking with the circuit panels. For example,each interposer could be formed by layers of flowable materials and aninterior layer as discussed above which are stacked in positionconcomitantly with stacking of the circuit panels. In yet anothermodification, the lamination procedures can be performed stepwise, as bystacking two or more circuit panels with appropriate interposers andforming the same into a subassembly as discussed above, and thenstacking that subassembly with one or more additional circuit panels andinterposers, or with a further subassembly and an interposer, andlaminating this larger stack to form a larger assembly.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION - PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

A method of making a circuit panel precursor in accordance with oneembodiment of the present invention utilizes a first sheet 500 (FIG. 13)of a dielectric material. The dielectric material may be selected fromthe group of materials useful in circuit panels of the laminationtechnique invention as discussed above. Preferably however, the firstsheet is formed from a thermoplastic polymer, and most preferably frompolyimide. Sheet 500 desirably is less than about 250 micrometers thickand more preferably less than about 150 micrometers thick. Asubstantially continuous layer of an electrically conductive materialsuch as a copper, copper-alloy, or other metal is laminated on onesurface of sheet 500. The conductive, metallic layer may be applied byconventional plating or other deposition processes or else may beprovided as a separate self-supporting layer and laminated with sheet500 by juxtaposing the two layers under heat and pressure, as in anip-type or platen-type laminating press. Portions of layer 502 are thenremoved to form the configuration illustrated in (FIG. 14). After thisremoval step, layer 502 includes apertures 504 and islands 506 disposedin a regular, rectilinear grid pattern. The rectilinear pattern ofislands 506 includes columns extending in a first direction parallel tothe plane of the layers, indicated by arrow x in Fig. 14, and rowsextending in a second, orthogonal direction also parallel to the planeof the layers, as indicated by arrow y.

One island 506 is disposed within each aperture 504. Each island isseparated from the remaining portions of sheet 502. Thus, in forming theislands 506 and apertures 504, annular portions of sheet 502 surroundingeach island 506 are removed. This selective removal can be performed byany of the selective metal removal processes commonly used infabrication of electronic components. For example, layer 502 may becoated with a photoresist and the photoresist may be selectively exposedto light so as to cure the photoresist except in annular areascorresponding to the annular portions to be removed. The photoresist maythen be washed so as to remove the uncured photo resist, leaving theannular areas exposed, and the layer may then be etched by exposure toan etching solution. The photoresist protects the layer so that only theexposed annular areas are removed. Alternatively, layer 502 may beformed with holes 504 and islands 506 via a process of selectivedeposition on dielectric layer or sheet 500. Any known selectivedeposition process capable of depositing the material employed for layer502 may be utilized. Merely by way of example, the surface of sheet 500may be selectively coated with a resist in the annular areascorresponding to holes 504 and then exposed to an electroless platingsolution so as to deposit the metallic material in those areas notcovered by the resist.

After conductive layer 502 has been formed and provided with theapertures and islands, additional dielectric material is applied atopthe conductive layer 502 so as to provide a second dielectric layer 508(Fig. 15) and thereby form a laminate including the conductive materialof layer 502 between the dielectric layers 500 and 508. The surface 516of the lower dielectric layer 500 remote from conductive layer 502defines the bottom surface of the laminate, whereas the surface 514 ofthe upper dielectric layer 508 forms the top surface of the laminate.The dielectric material of layer 508 preferably has the same compositionand thickness as the dielectric material of layer 500, althoughdifferent dielectric materials and different thicknesses can also beemployed. The material of layer 508 may be applied either by coating thedielectric in liquid form, or, preferably, by applying layer 508 as aseparate, coherent sheet and uniting such separate sheet with layers 500and 502 under heat and pressure, as in a nip-type or platen-typelaminating press. Dielectric layers 500 and 508 should penetrate throughthe open, annular, regions of apertures 504 and merge with one anotherwithin these open, annular regions so as to provide dielectric material510 within each aperture 504 between each island 506 and the surroundingregions of conductive layer 502. Although only two apertures 504 and twoislands 506 are illustrated in FIG. 15, the remaining holes and islandshave a substantially similar construction.

In the next stage of the process, via holes 512 (FIGS. 16 and 17) areformed in each dielectric sheet 500 and 508 in alignment with islands506 so that each island 506 is exposed to the top surface 514 of thelaminate and is also exposed to the bottom surface 516 of the laminate.The via holes 512 are disposed in columns extending in the first or xdirection and rows extending in the second or y direction. Via holes 512may be formed by selectively exposing regions of surfaces 514 and 516aligned with the islands 506 to radiant energy such as light from alaser or other suitable high-intensity source for a brief time so as toerode or ablate the dielectric material and thereby form the holes 512.Other processes of selective removal can also be employed. For example,polymers can be selectively etched by chemical etching solutions using asuitable photoresist for masking. As best appreciated with reference toFIG. 16, each via hole 512 extends through slightly less than half theentire thickness of the laminate. Thus, although via holes 512 tend totaper or decrease in diameter with increasing distance from surfaces 514and 516, this taper does not materially reduce the diameter of each viahole 512 over the limited distance from the surfaces to the conductiveislands. In the same fashion, riser holes 520 are formed only in thefirst or lower dielectric sheet 500. These riser holes extend from thebottom surface 516 of the laminate to sheet 502 at locations outside ofapertures 504, so that the continuous region of sheet 502 is exposedthrough each riser hole 520. Riser holes 520 are interspersed withinrows via holes 512, as also seen in section in FIG. 17. Each of theseriser holes is aligned with the via holes of the row in the first or xdirection but offset from the adjacent via hole in the second or ydirection by a riser offset distance D_(r). The other row of via holes512 shown in FIG. 16 is devoid of riser holes. Preferably, the riserholes 520 are provided in a regular pattern having a preselectedrelationship to the pattern of the islands 506 and via holes 512. Forexample, riser holes 520 may be provided in every fourth row of islandsand via holes 512. Alternatively, riser holes may be provided in everyrow of via holes.

In order to form via holes 512 in registration with the islands 506, itis desirable to determine the locations of the islands by opticalmeasurement, as by a robot vision system. Where one or both of thedielectric layers 500 and 508 is transparent, the islands can beobserved directly such a robot vision system. Alternatively, if both oflayers 500 and 508 are opaque, one or more fiducial marks 518 (FIG. 14)can be formed in layer 502 in predetermined spatial relationship to theislands by the same process as is used to form the apertures 504 and theislands 506. For example, these may be formed in the photo etchingprocess discussed above. Those regions of sheet 502 incorporating thefiducial marks may be left uncovered by sheet 508, so that the fiducialmarks can be observed by the robot vision system.

After holes 512 and 520 have been formed, further layers 522 and 524(FIGS. 18 and 19) of a base, etchable electrically conductive materialsuch as copper or another base metal are deposited on the top and bottomsurfaces 514 and 516 of the laminate respectively. These layers coverthe entire top and bottom surfaces. The base metal of the top and bottomlayers extends into the via holes 512 and forms hollow, tubular metalliclinings 526 within these holes (Fig. 19). These linings merge with theconductive material of islands 506 to form unitary metallicthrough-conductors 527 extending through the entire laminate at eachisland 506 so that such through conductors are placed at the locationsoccupied by the via holes. Thus, through conductors 527 are disposed inthe same rectilinear grid of columns and rows discussed above withreference to the via holes. The columns of through conductors are spacedapart by a predetermined y-direction grid distance D_(y), whereas therows are disposed at an x-direction grid distance D_(x) from oneanother. Likewise, the bottom base metal layer 524 extends into eachriser hole to form electrically conductive hollow risers 528 (FIG. 19)extending from the bottom surface of the laminate to conductive layer502. The through conductors 527 are integral with and electricallyconnected to both of the surface conductive layers 522 and 524, whereasthe risers are integral with and connected to the bottom surfaceconductive layer 524. As best appreciated with reference to FIG. 19,each through conductor 527 extends substantially vertically. Eachthrough conductor 527 has a space or reservoir 532 open at the bottomend of the conductor, at bottom layer 524. Each through conductorlikewise has an opening 533 at its top end 534 at layer 522.

After the base material has been applied, a noble metal is selectivelyapplied on both surfaces of the laminate. The noble metal is applied soas to cover an annular terminal region 530 surrounding the bottom end ofeach through conductor 527 and also to line the interior space 532within the bottom portion of each conductor. However, the noble metaland base metal deposited in the bottom via holes do not completely fillthese holes so that some portion of each space 532 left empty and isleft open to the bottom of the laminate within the terminal region 530.The noble metal is also applied to annular contact regions 538 on thetop surface of the laminate adjacent the top end of each throughconductor 527. Each annular contact region 538 is offset from theadjacent, associated through conductor 527 in the column or x directiondiscussed above. However, each annular contact region is aligned withthe adjacent through conductor 527 in the row or y-direction. Thecenter-to center distance between each such contact region and theassociated, adjacent through conductor 527 is an offset distance D_(o).The noble metal covering of each contact region 538 is in the form of anannulus defining a hole 537 at its center. The top base metal layer 522is exposed within each such hole 537. Each annular noble-metal contactregion 538 is separated from the top end 534 of the adjacent throughconductor 527 by a gap 540. The base metal layer 522 on the top surfaceis exposed within each such gap. Likewise, there is a gap 542 (Fig. lS)between the noble metal covering of each bottom terminal region 530 andthe adjacent riser, the bottom base metal layer 524 being exposed withineach such gap 542.

Most preferably, the circuit panel precursors fabricated by this processare made up in two types or sets. The magnitude of the offset distanceD_(o) between the through conductors 527 and contact regions 538 is thesame for both types, but the sense or sign of the offset is reversed asbetween the two types. This is best seen in FIGS. 20 and. 21, whereintwo circuit panel precursors are shown in a later stage of manufacture,after the same have been converted into circuit panels. A circuit panelprecursor of the first type, and hence a circuit panel 544 of the firsttype (FIG. 20) made from such circuit panel has through conductors 527,and contacts 538 arranged at locations on columns 546, 548, 550 and 552extending in the first or x direction parallel to the plane of the panelsurface. Adjacent columns are separated by grid distance D_(y). Thethrough conductors 527, and hence the terminals 530 at the bottom endsof the through conductors are disposed in rows 554 and 546 of the rowsextending in the second or y direction orthogonal to the first, xdirection. Rows 554 and 556 of through conductors are spaced apart bygrid distance D_(x). That is, one through conductor 527 and hence oneterminal 530 is provided at each intersection between these particularrows 554, 556 and the columns 546, 548, 550 and 552. The throughconductors, and hence the terminals 530 on the bottom surface thus aredisposed at all locations of a first rectilinear, regular patterncorresponding to these intersections between rows 554, 556 and thecolumns. The contacts 538 on the top surface are disposed in rows 558and 560, so that one such contact is disposed at each intersectionbetween rows 558 and 560 and columns 546, 548, 550 and 552. Accordingly,contacts 538 on the top surface are disposed at each location of asecond, regular, rectilinear pattern, these locations being theintersections between the rows 558 and 560 and the aforementionedcolumns. The second pattern is identical to the first pattern, exceptthat the second pattern is offset from the first pattern by theaforementioned offset distance D_(o) in the positive x direction, i.e,in the direction to the right as seen in FIG. 18. Thus, row 558 isoffset by distance D_(o) from row 554 in the x direction, and row 560 islikewise offset from row 556. Like the rows of through conductors, rows558 and 560 of contacts are spaced apart by grid distance D_(x).

The circuit panel precursors of the second set and hence the circuitpanels 562 (FIG. 21) fabricated from such precursors, have their throughconductors 527 and bottom-surface terminals 530 at locations of thesecond pattern, i.e., at intersections of rows 558 and 560 with the samecolumns 546, 548, 550 and 552. The contacts 538 on the top surface aredisposed at the locations of the first pattern, i.e., at theintersections between rows 554 and 556 and the same columns. Thus, thecircuit panel 562 formed from a precursor of the second type hascontacts 538 offset from its through conductors 537 and bottom-surfaceterminals 530 in the minus-x or reverse direction, the offset distancebeing of the same magnitude D_(o).

The multi-layer circuit manufacturing process most preferably utilizesat least one panel precursor of the first type and at least one panelprecursor of the second type. The panel precursors are converted tocircuit panels by selectively treating their top and bottom surfaces, asby selectively etching the surface conductive layers 522 and 524 (FIGS.18 and 19) of the panel precursors. The selective treatment step isconducted so as to leave portions of the base metal conductive layers aselongated surface conductors extending along the top and bottom surfacesof the panel. The elongated surface conductors 564 (FIGS. 20 and 21) onthe top surfaces of each panel extend generally in the first or xdirection whereas the elongated conductors 566 on the bottom surfaces ofthe panels (illustrated in broken lines) extend in the second or ydirection orthogonal to the first direction and hence orthogonal to thetop surface conductors 564. The pattern used in the selective etchingprocedure preferably is selected so that some or all of the top-surfaceconductors 564 on panel 544 are electrically connected with throughconductors 527 of such panel. A top surface conductor 564 typicallymerges with the top end 534 of one or more through conductors 527. Inlike fashion, some or all of bottom- surface conductors 566 on panel 544merge with one or more of the terminals 530 on the bottom surface ofsuch panel and hence are electrically connected to one or more of thethrough conductors 527 of the panel. Some or all of the surfaceconductors of each panel may be connected to through conductors insimilar fashion. Only a few surface conductors 564 and 566 are depictedin FIGS. 20 and 21 for clarity of illustration. However, it should beappreciated that circuit panels in accordance with preferred embodimentsof the invention may include hundreds or even thousands of surfaceconductors and may likewise include hundreds or thousands of throughconductors.

The pattern of selective surface treatment or etching is conducted so asto interconnect some, but less than all, of the through conductors 527of each circuit panel with the associated contact 538. For example,through conductor 527a, and hence the terminal 530a at the bottom-end ofsuch through conductor, are interconnected with the associated, adjacentcontact 538a on the top surface of panel 544, whereas through conductor527b is not interconnected with the associated contact 538b on the topsurface of the panel. Likewise, through conductor 527c, and hence theterminal 530c on the bottom surface of such panel are electricallyconnected to contact 538c, whereas some of the other through conductorson the same panel are not connected to contacts. The selectiveinterconnection is accomplished by selective etching of the base metalin the gaps 540 (FIGS. 18 and 19) between the top ends 534 of thethrough conductors and the contacts 538. Where a connection is desired,the base metal in the gap is left intact so as to form a short lead 570(FIGS. 20 and 21) between the top end of the through conductor and theassociated contact 538. Where no interconnection is desired, the basemetal in the gap is removed in the etching process. For example, in atypical etching process using photoresist, where the resist is appliedand selectively cured by exposure to light, the resist overlying a gap540 would be cured and hence left in place to impede etching and thusleave a lead 570, but left uncured so that the resist is removed and themetal is etched where the connection is not desired. The areas of thetop and bottom surface on each panel constituting bottom terminals 530of the through conductors and the contacts 538 are not affected by theselective treatment or etching process. These areas preferably arecovered by cured resist during the etching process. Also, the noblemetal covering on each of these areas is substantially resistant to theetching process.

In the same fashion, the selective etching process applied to the bottomsurfaces of the panels is controlled so as to selectively leave basemetal in gaps 542 (FIGS. 18) between terminals 530 and the bottom endsof risers 528. This forms interconnections 572 (FIGS. 20 and 21) betweenterminals 530, and hence through conductors 527 and risers 528. Hereagain, where no interconnection is desired, the base metal in the gap isremoved. As each such interconnection 572 connects one terminal 530 andhence one through conductor to a riser 528, and as each riser 528 iselectrically connected with the continuous portions of internalconductive layer 502, each such interconnection 572 serves to connectone terminal and one through conductor to the continuous internalconductive layer. Typically, only a few of the through conductors oneach panel are connected to the continuous conductive layer 502. Theselective treatment process may also form connections between topsurface conductors 564 and contacts 538, whether or not the particularcontacts are connected to through conductors. Additionally, bottomsurface conductors 566 may be connected to risers 528, whether or notthe risers are connected to through conductors.

The patterns of interconnections between the through conductors and thecontacts 538 on the top surfaces are dictated by circuit requirements.As further explained below, the interconnections between the throughconductors and the contacts serve to establish multilayer throughconductors extending through plural panels after assembly, whereaselectrical connection between through conductors in different panels inthe finished assembly is interrupted where the interconnections 570between through conductors and contacts are absent. The patterns of thesurface conductors 564 and 566 and their connections to the otherelements discussed above are also dictated entirely by circuitrequirements.

The same selective treatment or etching process used to form theelongated conductors and interconnections also forms "fiducial" or guidemarks 574 and 575 on the top and bottom surfaces of each panel. Thesemarks are formed from portions of the top metal layer which are left inplace during the etching process. Because the fiducial marks are formedby the same selective treatment step as is used to form the otherfeatures, the fiducial marks are precisely located relative to the otherfeatures formed in the selective treatment process. In particular, thefiducial marks are precisely located in relation to the elongatedconductors on the top and bottom surface of each panel Most preferably,where the etching process includes selective exposure to light, as incuring of a photoresist, the fiducial marks are formed by selectiveexposure using the same or pattern as is used to form the otherfeatures. To provide precise registration of features on the top andbottom surfaces of the panel, both the top and bottom surfaces should beexposed in a single exposure step. The fiducial marks are placed atpreselected locations relative to the contacts and terminals. Thus, thefiducial marks 574 on the top surface are offset from the closest row560 of contacts 538 in the x direction by a predetermined distanceD_(f), whereas the fiducial marks 575 on the bottom surface of eachpanel are offset from the closest row 556 of terminals 530 by the samedistance Df. Accordingly, the fiducial marks 574 on the top surface ofeach panel are offset from the fiducial marks 575 on the bottom Surfaceof the same panel by an x-direction offset distance equal in magnitudeand sign to the offset distance D_(o) between the through conductors 527and contacts 538 of the panel in question. Thus, the offset distancefrom fiducial marks 575 on the bottom surface of first-type panel 544 tofiducial marks 574 on the top surface of that panel is in the positivex-direction (to the right in FIG. 20). The offset distance from thebottom fiducial mark 575 of second-type panel 562 (FIG. 21) to the topfiducial mark 574 is in the negative x direction. The fiducial marksdesirably are rectangular so that they have well-defined edges extendingin the x and y directions. These edges can be readily detected byautomated vision alignment systems.

The assembly method also utilizes interposers as discussed above inconnection with the lamination technique. An interposer (FIGS. 22)has agenerally planar or sheetlike body 576 of dielectric material with a topsurface 577 and a bottom surface 579. Each interposer has masses 578 offlowable electrically conductive material extending through the bodybetween surfaces 577 and 579. The masses 578 are disposed in atspaced-apart-locations in a rectilinear grid of rows and columnscorresponding to the grids of rows and columns in the panels. That is,the masses 578 are disposed in columns 581, 583, 585, 587 extending in afirst or x direction in the plane of the interposer body, and in rows589, 591 extending in a second or y-direction perpendicular to thex-direction. The spacing or x-direction distance between rows 589, 591is the same as the distance D_(x) between rows of contacts on thepanels, whereas the spacing or y-direction distance between columns 581,583, 585, 587 is the same as the distance D_(y) between adjacent columnsof contacts on the panels.

Each interposer 580 has fiducial marks 584 exposed on its top and bottomsurfaces.

Most preferably, the fiducial marks are applied in the same process asis used to control positioning of the flowable conductive material. Forexample, where the flowable conductive material is disposed in holesextending through the interposer body, the fiducial marks may be holesextending through the body and formed in the same process as employed toform the holes for masses 578. Conversely, where the flowable conductivematerial is applied by silk screening or another printing process, thefiducial marks can be formed from the flowable conductive material andcan be printed in the same operation as the conductive masses 578. Thex-direction distance D_(f) between fiducial marks 584 on the interposerand the closest row of masses 578 is the same as the distance D_(f)between the top-surface fiducial marks 574 on the panels and the rows ofcontacts 538, and the same as the distance Df between the bottom-surfacefiducial marks 575 and the rows of terminals 530 (FIGS. 20 and 21).

As discussed in greater detail above in connection with the laminationtechnique, each interposer most desirably includes a layer of flowabledielectric material at its top surface 577 and a similar layer offlowable dielectric material at its bottom surface 579.

In one step of the assembly method, at least one circuit panel 544 ofthe first type and at least one panel of the second type are stackedtogether with the interposers in superposed, top surface to bottomsurface relation, and with circuit panels 544 of the first set andpanels 562 of the second set being disposed in alternating order of thestack. A stack 569 is illustrated in FIG. 23. The circuit panels defineinterfaces therebetween. These interfaces are of two types: a first typeof interface 571 where the top surface of a first-set circuit panel 544faces the bottom surface 516 of a second-set panel 562, and a secondtype of interface 573 where the top surface of a second-type panel 562faces the bottom surface 516 of a first-set circuit panel 544. Aninterposer 580 is disposed at each first-type interface so that a theinterposer lies between the top surface of each first-type panel and thebottom surface of the next adjacent second-type panel. Likewise, at eachsecond-type interface,an interposer 580 is disposed between the top of asecond-set panel 562 and the bottom surface of the next superposedfirst-type panel 544. Thus, the interposers and panels are arranged inalternating sequence, with the interposers interleaved between thepanels. The panels are aligned with one another in the directionsparallel to their respective planes (the x and y directions discussedabove) so that their respective first and second patterns are inregistration with one another. Thus, the panels are aligned so that row554 on each panel in the stack lies in a common plane 554'. Likewise,rows 556, 558 and 560 on each of the panels lie in common planes 556'558' and 560' respectively. In the same way, the columns 546, 548, 550,and 552 lie in common planes, which planes are parallel to the plane ofthe drawing as seen in FIG. 23.

At each interface 571 of the first type the rows 581, 583 of conductivemasses are aligned in planes 558' and 560'. Thus, at each interface 571of the first type, contacts 538 on the top surface of a first-setcircuit panel 544 are aligned with terminals 534 on the bottom surfaceof a second-set panel 562, and masses of flowable conductive material578 of an interposer 580 at such interface is aligned with theseelements. These aligned elements are disposed at all locations of thein-registration first patterns. For example, contact 538d on the topsurface of the lowermost first-set circuit panel 544, terminal 530d onthe bottom surface of another, second-type circuit panel 564 andconductive mass 578d are all aligned with one another at one suchfirst-pattern location of the intersection of rows 558 (plane 558') andone of the columns.

At each interface of the second type, the interposer is positioned sothat rows 581 and 583 of conductive masses are aligned in planes 554'and 556'. Thus, contacts 538 on the top surface of a second-set circuitpanel 562 are aligned with terminals 530 on the bottom surface of afirst-set circuit panel 544, and with a flowable conductive masses ofthe interposer 580. For example, contact 538e, flowable mass 578e andterminal 530e are all aligned with one another. Such alignment at thesecond-type interfaces occurs at all locations of the second pattern,i.e., at all locations corresponding to intersections between planes554' and 556' (rows 554 and 556 of each stacked element) and theaforementioned columns.

The circuit panels and interposers are aligned with one another usingthe fiducial marks and using an automatic vision system to shift thecircuit elements as desired in the x and y directions, parallel to theplanes of these elements to achieve precise alignment. In this alignmentprocess, the automatic vision system preferably looks at the top surfaceof the highest element already in the stack and at the bottom surface ofthe next element to be added to the stack. In each case, the properalignment is achieved by placing the fiducial marks on these surfacesatop one another. Thus, the offsets between desired locations for theconductive masses of the interposers between first-type interfaces 571and second-type interfaces 573 are produced automatically, as a resultof the offsets between top and bottom fiducial marks 574 and 575 on thepanels.

The circuit panels and interposers are then fused into a unitaryassembly by momentarily bringing the flowable dielectric and conductivematerials of the interposers to a fluid condition, as by applying heatwhile holding the stacked elements under pressure. In the same way asdiscussed above with reference to the lamination technique, the flowableconductive material of the interposers unites an electricallyinterconnects each aligned contact and terminal. This interconnection isnon-selective. That is, wherever a contact 538 on the top surface of apanel is aligned with a terminal 534 on the bottom surface of the nextimmediately superposed panel, such contact and terminal are joined withone another. The spaces 532 open at the bottom of each through conductor527 (FIG. 19) serve as reservoirs for the flowable conductive materialin the same way as discussed above with regard to the laminationtechnique. Also, the flowable conductive material on the interposersbonds the circuit panels together and fills irregularities on the topand bottom surfaces of the panels, such as irregularities between thesurface conductors 564 and 566 on the top and bottom surfaces of thevarious panels.

The conjoined through conductors and contacts form composite verticalconductors extending through plural panels. A typical set of compositevertical conductors is illustrated in FIG. 24. These compositeconductors are formed from the through conductors, terminals andcontacts disposed at two pattern locations, that is, location 588 of thefirst pattern and location 590 of the second pattern. In FIG. 24, thedielectric portions of the circuit panels and interposers are omittedfor clarity of illustration, and the internal conductive layer 502within the center of each panel is also partially largely omitted forclarity of illustration. As shown, the lowermost circuit panel has acontact connector 570f extending between the top end of throughconductor 527f and the associated contact 538f. Contact 538f isconnected to the superposed terminal 530g by a conductive mass 578, sothat through conductors 527f and 527g are electrically connected to oneanother to form one composite vertical conductor 589 extending throughthe two lowermost panels in the assembly. This composite conductorextends from the terminal 530f at the bottom of through conductor 527fto the top of through conductor 527g, and serves to interconnect surfaceconductor 564g on the top of the second lowest panel in the stack withsurface conductor 566f on the bottom of the lowermost panel. Becausethere is a riser connector 572f extending between terminal 530f and theriser 528f of the lowermost panel, this composite vertical conductor andhence surface conductors 564g and 566f are electrically connected to theinternal conductive layer 502f of the lowermost panel which serves as apower or ground plane.

There is no contact connector interconnecting the top end of throughconductor 527g with the associated contact 538g. Thus, although contact538g is connected to the terminal 530h on the next superposed panel,this connection does not serve to electrically connect through conductor527g with through conductor 527h. A conductor 564gg on the top surfaceof the second panel is electrically connected to contact 538g and hencewill be electrically connected to through conductor 527h of the thirdpanel, but these elements are isolated from through conductor 527g andfrom the remainder of the composite vertical conductor in the twolowermost panels. The three uppermost panels all have contact connectors570h, 570i and 570j on their respective top surfaces. Accordingly,through conductors 527h, 527i and 527j of these panels are joined into aunitary, composite vertical conductor 595 extending upwardly fromterminal 530h and contact 538g and ending at the top surface of thetopmost panel, where it is connected to conductor 564j. Although some ofthe panels penetrated by this composite vertical conductor have risers528h and 528j at adjacent riser locations, these risers are disconnectedfrom the associated terminals and through conductors. That is, no riserconductors are provided on the bottom surfaces of these particularpanels. Accordingly, the composite vertical conductor is electricallyisolated from the central conductive layers 502h and 502j of the panelshaving such risers. Various ones of the surface conductors 564 and 566on the different panels are connected to this composite verticalconductor, as where these elongated conductors are so formed as tointersect the contacts 538, the terminals 530 or the top-ends 534 of thethrough conductors on the various panels.

The composite vertical conductors 593 and 595 each extend in a zigzagfashion, passing from a location 588 of the first pattern to a location590 of the second pattern. The disposition of risers 528 in x-directionalignment with through conductors 527, interspersed between the throughconductors of a particular row, avoids interference between the bottomsurface conductors 566 and the risers and riser connectors. Thus,because the bottom-surface conductors 566 extend in the y direction,they run alongside of the rows, displaced from the through conductors inthe x-direction. Likewise, disposition of the contacts 538 iny-direction alignment with the through conductors avoids interferencewith the top-surface conductors 564. The top surface conductorsextending in the x-direction are necessarily displaced from the throughconductors in the y-direction, and hence are clear of contacts 538.

FIG. 25 illustrates one way in which the contact terminals andconductive material masses can be used to provided a "jog" or offset.One panel includes a pair of top-surface conductor portions 564k, 564lwhich extend in the first or x-direction but which are offset from oneanother in the second or y-direction. One of these conductors is joinedto a first contact 538k whereas the other conductor 564l is joined toanother contact 538l on the same panel and in the same row. Contact 538kis joined by one of the flowable conductive material masses 578k to aterminal 530k on the bottom surface of the next higher panel. Thatterminal in turn is connected via a bottom-surface conductor 566k ofsuch next higher panel to another terminal 530l, which in turn isconnected by a flowable conductive material mass 578l to contact 538l.This joins the two conductor portions 564k and 564l on the top-surfaceof the first mentioned panel into a composite, jogged conductorextending in the x-direction but having a jog or offset in they-direction. As will be appreciated, this type of connection can be madein combination with other types of connections. For example, terminal530k or 530l can be connected to additional panels, or to the topsurface of the higher panel via the through conductors 527k or 527l.

The inverse type of connection, to form a jog in a y-direction conductoris illustrated in FIG. 26. That composite jogged y-direction conductorincludes a pair of bottom-surface conductor portions 566m and 566n onthe bottom-surface of one panel. Conductor portion 566m is connected viaa terminal 530m and flowable conductive mass 578m to a contact 538m onthe top surface of the next lower panel. Contact 538m in turn isconnected via an x-direction or top-surface conductor 564m on such nextlower panel to a further contact 538n on the same panel surface. Thatcontact in turn is connected via a flowable conductive material mass578n to another terminal 530n on the bottom surface of the firstmentioned panel. Terminal 530n in turn is connected to the otherconductive portion 566n. Thus, the contacts, terminals and flowablemasses, together with conductor 564m on one panel are used to join twoconductor portions 566m and 566n on another panel into a composite,electrically continuous y-direction connector having a jog or offset inthe x-direction.

In generally similar fashion, jogged conductors can be made in a singlepanel. For example, a jogged x-direction conductor can be made byconnecting a top-surface or x-direction conductor portion on one panelto the top end of a through conductor in that panel, connecting thebottom end of such through conductor to a y-direction conductor on thebottom surface of the panel and connecting that bottom surface conductorto yet another through conductor which in turn is connected at its topend to a further x-direction or top surface conductor portion. Thereverse arrangement can be used to provide a jogged y-directionconductor. As will be appreciated, the ability to provide such joggedconductors either within a single panel or using conductor portions onmultiple panels provides greatly enhanced design versatility. Where aconductor must be interrupted on one panel by some other feature orcomponent, the conductor can be rerouted or jogged around theobstruction with ease. The interconnections between x-direction andy-direction surface conductors discussed above in the context of"jogged" conductors can also be used for other purposes. Thus,x-direction and y-direction conductors on the same panel or on differentpanels can be interconnected freely with one another as required by thecircuit design.

As will be readily appreciated, the number of panels in a stackaccording to this aspect of the present invention can be varied widelyfrom two panels to as many panels as desired. Essentially any layout ofthe composite vertical or Z-direction conductors and X-direction andY-direction surface conductors can be provided. The circuit panelprecursors and interposers can be fabricated as stock items in largequantity. There is no need to vary the design of the circuit panelprecursors or the design of the interposer to accommodate differingcircuit requirements. All that is required to customize the assembly,including the locations and number of composite vertical conductors, isselective treatment of the panel surfaces. There is no need for anyspecial drilling or other through conductor fabrication technology inthe assembly plant. Rather, the customization steps involve onlystandard surface treatment technology such as etching which is widelyknown and widely utilized in the circuit panel industry as, for example,in manufacture of conventional circuit boards. Moreover, the assemblycan be quite compact. Thus, the lengths of contact connectors 570 andriser connectors 572 relative to the other components are greatlyexaggerated in the drawings. In practice, these connectors may betypically as short as about 0.25 mm.

The methods, panel precursors and assemblies discussed above can bevaried in numerous ways. A panel precursor in accordance with one suchvariant is illustrated in FIG. 27. This panel precursor includes a firstor lower dielectric sheet 600 and a second or upper dielectric sheet 608as discussed above. However, two internal conductive layers 602 and 603are provided rather than the single internal conductive layer of theinterposers discussed above. An additional dielectric layer 609 isdisposed between conductive layer 602 and 603 so that these layersextend generally parallel to one another. Layer 602 is selectivelytreated in substantially the same way as the internal conductive layerdiscussed above. That is, layer 602 has islands 606 disposed withinapertures 604. Layer 602 additionally has a region 611 isolated from thecontinuous portion of the layer, this region being surrounded by achannel 613 in the layer. The second conductive layer 603 has apertures615 aligned with the islands 606 of layer 602. The through conductorstructure 627 includes portions of the top base metal layer 622 andbottom base metal layer 624 forming tubular linings in via holes in thedielectric layers and extending to each island 606. The throughconductor structure extends through the aperture 615 in layer 603.Second conductive layer 603 further includes a region 617 isolated fromthe remainder of layer 603 and aligned with the isolated region 611 oflayer 602. A riser 628 lined with conductive base metal aextends frombottom base metal layer 624 to the isolated region 611 of layer 602. Afurther riser structure 629 is provided within a contact 638. This riserstructure extends from the top base metal layer 622 to panel 617.Several sets of regions 611 and 617 are provided at locations spacedapart from one another in the x and y or -inplane directions, each suchset having an associated pair of risers 628 and 629. The regions 611 and617 of each such set are aligned with one another in the x and ydirections.

Circuit panels and circuit panel precursors in accordance with thisembodiment of the invention are made in a process much like thatdiscussed above. The circuit panel precursor shown in FIG. 24 isconverted to a circuit panel by selectively etching the top and bottombase metal layers, so as to selectively connect through conductors tocontacts and also form elongated surface conductors extending along thetop and bottom surfaces of the panel as discussed above. Some of thesesurface conductors and through conductors may be selectively connectedto the risers 628 and 629. Each pair of panels 611 and 617 form theopposite plates of a capacitor. The selective connection of risers 628and 629 to the surface conductors and/or through conductors serve toconnect these capacitor plates to the other electrical components in thesystem. Of course, the plates are present in the circuit panelprecursors and hence need not be purchased or handled separately by themanufacturer. In a variant of this approach, individual, isolated platesmay be provided in only one of the internal conductive layers 602 and603, whereas the other one of these layers may be left as asubstantially continuous conductive layer apart from the aperturesassociated with the through conductors. In such an arrangement, all ofthe capacitors would have one side connected in parallel. For example,where the continuous portion of such a conductive layer is connected toground, the internal capacitors would provide capacitance to ground. Ina further variant, some of the through conductors can be fabricated withconnections either to an isolated region of a conductive interiorelement or to a continuous interior layer. Thus, if a particular islandis left connected to layer 602 during the layer-forming process, thethrough-conductor formed at that island will have an internal connectionto the layer.

In the embodiments discussed above, the circuit panel precursor isprovided with a substantially continuous metal layer and that metallayer is selectively treated by subtractive etching to remove unwantedportions and thereby form the desired patterns of surface conductors andinterconnections between through conductors and top-surface contacts.The reverse arrangement is illustrated in FIG. 28 and 29. The precursorof FIG. 28 has a body including dielectric layers 700 and 708 and aninternal conductive layer 702, and through conductors 727 extendingbetween the top surface 714 and bottom surface 716. The precursor doesnot have substantial conductive layers on its top and bottom surfaces.Although a thin layer metallic material may be provided as a base forfuture plating, such thin layer does not have sufficient thickness toform the required conductive elements. The selective treatment of thetop and bottom surfaces involves selective deposition of conductivematerial to form contacts 738 (FIG. 29) and contact connectors 770connecting these contacts to the through conductors 727. Following suchselective deposition, the thin layer is removed by a brief etchingprocess. Contacts 738 are formed at locations of a regular, rectilinearpattern such as the rows and columns discussed above in connection withthe other embodiments. Most preferably, contacts are provided at eachsuch location. For example, location 739 is a location of the regularcontact pattern. A top surface contact 738a is formed at location 739,even though the associated contact connector is entirely omitted. Thus,the contact is formed even where it is not connected to any otherconductive element of the panel, and even where the contact will serveno electrical function. It is highly desirable, although not absolutelyessential, to provide contacts at every location of the regular patternsso that every flowable mass in each interposer confronts a contact and aterminal, rather than a bare spot on the panel body. The same selectivedeposition process used to form the contacts and contacts connectors isalso used to form the surface conductors 764 on the top surface and thecorresponding elongated conductors on the bottom surface. Panels formedin this manner can be used in exactly the same way as panels formed byselective etching as discussed above. Essentially any selectivedeposition process suitable for depositing conductive materials can beused to fabricate circuit panels in this manner. The panel precursor andpanel of FIGS. 28 and 29 further differ from the panels and precursorsdiscussed above in that the through conductors 727 of the panels inFIGS. 28 and 29 are simple, continuous "barrel" vias extending entirelythrough both dielectric layers through apertures 706 in the internalconductive layer 702. These vias are formed by conventional hole-formingand plating processes.

AS illustrated in FIG. 30, the fiducial marks used to align theinterposers and panels may vary from those discussed above. Theinterposer of FIG. 26 has an array 801 of fiducial marks at each corner,only one such array being visible in FIG. 26. Each such array includes aplurality of holes 803 arranged in a rectilinear grid having a firstregular spacing distance 805 in the x direction and a second regularspacing distance 807 in the y direction. These distances may bedifferent or, preferably, the same. Holes 803 extend entirely throughthe body of the interposer. The circuit panel has arrays 811 ofreflective spots 813. The spots 813 of each such array are likewisearranged in rectilinear, regular patterns so that the spots in each sucharray have a fixed center-to-center distance 815 in the x direction anda center-to-center distance 817 in the y direction. Distance 817 may bedifferent from, or preferably, the same as distance 815. The distancesbetween spots 813 are different from the corresponding distances betweenholes 803. That is, the x direction center-to-center distance 815between spots 813 is different from the x direction center-to-centerdistance 805 between holes 803, and y direction distance 817 differsfrom y direction distance 807 of the holes. Only one hole 803 can befully aligned with a spot 813 in any relative position of the interposerand panel. Alignment of holes and spots can be detected by sightingdownwardly through the holes towards the spots. Arrays 801 and 811 maybe arranged so that the panel and interposer are in the desired relativeposition when the central hole 803a is in alignment with the centralspot 813a of the panel. In effect, the array serves as a two-dimensionvernier scale. Provided that the arrays are aligned with one another inthe desired relative positions to within an error less than any ofdistances 805, 807, 815 and 817, then one hole 803 and one spot 813 willbe aligned with one another. The identity of the aligned hole and spotwill indicate the amount and direction of the residual misalignment. Forexample, if hole 803b is aligned with a spot, the interposer should beshifted in one direction relative to the panel to bring holes 803a and813a into alignment, whereas if hole 803c is aligned with a spot, theinterposer should be shifted in the opposite direction to reach thedesired alignment.

As will be appreciated, numerous further variations and combinations ofthe features described above can be utilized without departing from thepresent invention as defined by the claims. For example, although theuse of an interposer with flowable conductive material and flowabledielectric materials as discussed above, is most definitely preferredinasmuch as it forms reliable interconnections and bonds the circuitpanel together, other nonselective connection methods can be used forconnecting terminals and contacts. For example, the interposer may beomitted and the terminals and contacts may be fused directly with oneanother, as by flowable electrically conductive materials carried oneach terminal and/or each contact. Such an arrangement desirably wouldutilize a dielectric insulating sheet at each interface, each such sheetcorresponding to the regular pattern of terminals and contacts at theinterface. For example, where terminals of a first regular pattern areto be connected with the contacts in the same first regular pattern, thedielectric sheet would have holes in the same first regular pattern. Atthe next adjacent interface, where the terminals and contacts aredisclosed in the second pattern, the dielectric sheet would have holesin that second regular pattern. If the surface conductors on thesurfaces of the panels are covered by dielectric material carried on thepanel themselves, the dielectric sheets may be omitted. In a furthervariant, the terminals and contacts can be connected by a layer ofso-called z-conducting adhesive, i.e., an adhesive having anisotropicelectrical conductivity. In this arrangement as well, a dielectric withholes may be provided at each interface of the panels themselves may beprovided with dielectric coverings extending over the surface conductorsbut not extending onto the terminals or contacts. Also, terms such as"top", "bottom", "vertical" and the like as used in this disclosureshould be understood as referring to an arbitrary frame of reference,rather than to the ordinary gravitational frame of reference. Thus, theupward vertical direction of a component or assembly may extendupwardly, downwardly or horizontally in the normal gravitational frameof reference. The tubular or barrel vias discussed with reference toFIGS. 28 and 29 may be used with the preplated surface conductive layersand subtractive etching customization process as discussed withreference to FIGS. 18 through 21.

As these and other variations and combinations of the features discussedabove may be utilized without departing from the invention, theforegoing description of the preferred embodiments should be taken byway of illustration rather than by way of limitation of the featuresdescribed above

What is claimed is:
 1. A multilayer circuit assembly comprising:aplurality of circuit panels including at least one panel of a first setand at least one panel of a second set, each said panel having adielectric body defining oppositely directed top and bottom surfaces, aplurality of through conductors extending between the top and bottomsurfaces of the panel, a plurality of terminals on the bottom surface ofthe panel, each said terminal being connected to one said throughconductor and a plurality of contacts on the top surface of the panel,at least some of the contacts of each panel being connected to thethrough conductors of such panel, said panels of said first set havingsaid contacts at at least some locations of a first pattern and saidterminals at all locations of a second pattern, said panels of saidsecond set having said contacts at at least some locations of saidsecond pattern and said terminals at all locations of said firstpattern, said panels being superposed on one another in top-surface tobottom-surface facing arrangement with panels of said first and secondsets arranged alternately, whereby said panels define at least oneinterface therebetween, said first patterns being aligned with oneanother and said second patterns being aligned with one another, wherebythe contacts of a lower one of said panels are aligned with theterminals of a higher one of said panels at each said interface, thealigned contacts and terminals being connected to one another at eachsaid interface, whereby at least some through conductors of at least oneof said panels are connected by said connected terminals and contacts tothrough conductors of other panels to form vertical conductors extendingthrough a plurality of said panels, at least one of said panels havingless than all of its through conductors connected to contacts of thatpanel whereby less than all of the through conductors in that panel willbe connected to through conductors of the next higher panel.
 2. Anassembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein said panels have surfaceconductors extending along said top and bottom surfaces, at least someof said surface conductors being connected to said through conductors,the assembly further comprising an insulation layer at each saidinterface separating said surface conductors on adjacent panels from oneanother.
 3. An assembly as claimed in claim 2 wherein said surfaceconductors are elongated and extend in mutually perpendicular first andsecond directions, the surface conductors on the top surface of eachpanel extending in one of said directions, the conductors on the bottomsurface of each panel extending in the other one of said directions. 4.An assembly as claimed in claim 3 wherein the surface conductors on thetop surface of each said panel extend in said first direction and thesurface conductors on the bottom surface of each said panel extend insaid second direction.
 5. An assembly as claimed in claim 4 wherein saidfirst and second patterns are rectilinear grids of columns and rows, thecolumns being parallel to said first direction, the rows being parallelto said second direction.
 6. An assembly as claimed in claim 5 whereinsaid second pattern is identical to said first pattern but offsettherefrom in said first direction.
 7. An assembly as claimed in claim 4wherein said through conductors extend substantially vertically betweensaid top and bottom surfaces of said panels, the through conductors ofeach said panel of said first set being disposed at locations of saidsecond pattern, the through conductors of each said panel of said secondset being disposed at locations of said first pattern, the terminals ofeach said panel being disposed at the bottom ends of the throughconductors of such panel.
 8. An assembly as claimed in claim 7 whereineach said through conductor includes a hollow tubular via extending intothe panel from the bottom surface thereof and defining an interior spaceopen to the bottom surface of the panel.
 9. An assembly as claimed inclaim 7 wherein the contacts of each said panel are offset from thethrough conductors of such panel in said first direction but alignedtherewith in said second direction.
 10. An assembly as claimed in claim9 wherein at least some of said panels include generally sheetlikeinterior conductive elements, each such interior conductive elementbeing disposed within the dielectric body of one said panel andextending generally parallel to the top and bottom surfaces thereof,each panel having such an interior element including means forconnecting said interior element to at least one of the conductors ofsuch panel.
 11. An assembly as claimed in claim 10 wherein said interiorelement connecting means of each panel having an interior conductiveelement includes at least one riser extending between said interiorconductive element and one of said top and bottom surfaces, the risersof each such panel being offset from the through conductors of suchpanel in said second direction but aligned with such through conductorsin said first direction.
 12. An assembly as claimed in claim 10 whereineach said interior element includes apertures extending there through,the through conductors of each panel extending through the apertures insuch interior element and being spaced apart from the interior elementwithin such apertures, the dielectric body of the panel extendingbetween the through conductors and the interior element in suchapertures.
 13. An assembly as claimed in claim 10 wherein at least oneof said panels includes a pair of conductive interior elements overlyingone another with a dielectric material therebetween, means forconnecting one interior element of the pair to one conductor of thepanel and means for connecting another dielectric element of the pair toanother conductor of the panel.
 14. An assembly as claimed in claim 5wherein at least one said surface conductor extending in said firstdirection on the top surface of one said panel is connected to at leastone said surface conductor extending in said second direction on thebottom surface of a next higher one of said panels.
 15. An assembly asclaimed in claim 5 wherein at least one said surface conductor extendingin said first direction on the top surface of one said panel isconnected by a through conductor of such panel to at least one saidsurface conductor extending in said second direction on the bottomsurface of such panel.
 16. A circuit panel precursor comprising firstand second dielectric sheets, a substantially continuous electricallyconductive layer disposed between said dielectric sheets whereby saidsheets define top and bottom surfaces remote from said conductive layer,said conductive layer having apertures extending therethrough, theprecursor further comprising islands of said electrically conductivematerial disposed in said apertures between said sheets, the dielectricmaterials of said sheets being joined with one another in said aperturesso that said dielectric materials insulate said islands from saidsubstantially continuous layer of conductive material.
 17. A precursoras claimed in claim 16 wherein said dielectric sheets have holes thereinaligned with said islands.
 18. A precursor as claimed in claim 17further comprising electrically conductive via material disposed in saidholes and extending from said islands to said top and bottom surfaces ofsaid dielectric layers.
 19. A precursor as claimed in claim 18 furthercomprising a surface conductive material on said top and bottom surfacesof said dielectric sheets, said surface conductive material beingconnected to said via material.
 20. A precursor as claimed in claim 19wherein said surface conductive material is in the form of substantiallycontinuous layers substantially completely covering said top and bottomsurfaces of said dielectric layers.
 21. A circuit panel precursorcomprising a dielectric body defining top and bottom surfaces extendinggenerally parallel to one another, a plurality of through conductorsextending through said body between said top and bottom surfaces andhaving top and bottom ends at such surfaces, and substantiallycontinuous layers of a base metal connected to said through conductorsand covering said top and bottom surfaces, the precursor furthercomprising a noble metal overlying said base metal layers in a pluralityof separate contact regions of said top surface offset from said throughconductors and in a plurality of separate terminal regions of saidbottom surface, there being one said contact region and one saidterminal region associated with each said through conductor.
 22. Acircuit panel precursor as claimed in claim 21 wherein there is a gapdevoid of noble metal between the top end of each said through conductorand the associated contact region, the top base metal layer beingexposed in each said gap.
 23. A circuit panel precursor as claimed inclaim 21 wherein the noble metal in each said contact region defines ahole , the top base metal layer being exposed within each such hole. 24.A circuit panel precursor as claimed in claim 21 wherein said throughconductors extend substantially vertically between said top and bottomsurfaces and wherein each said terminal region encompasses the bottomend of the associated through conductor.
 25. A circuit panel precursoras claimed in claim 24 wherein said through conductors are arranged in arectilinear grid including columns extending in a first direction androws extending in a second direction perpendicular to said firstdirection.
 26. A circuit panel precursor as claimed in claim 25 whereineach said contact region is offset from the associated through conductorin said first direction, all of said offsets having the same magnitudeand sign.
 27. A circuit panel precursor as claimed in claim 26 furthercomprising a sheetlike electrically conductive interior element disposedwithin said dielectric body and extending generally parallel to said topand bottom surfaces, and a plurality of electrically conductive risersextending from said bottom surface to said conductive interior element,each said riser being aligned in said first direction with one said rowof through conductors but offset from the through conductors of such rowin said second direction.
 28. A circuit panel precursor as claimed inclaim 27 wherein said risers include a plurality of said risersinterspersed with the through conductors of at least one said row.
 29. Acircuit panel precursor as claimed in claim 25 further comprisingfiducial marks formed from said noble metal on at least one of said topand bottom surfaces in predetermined spatial relation with said contactregions and terminal regions.
 30. A circuit panel precursor as claimedin claim 29 wherein said fiducial marks include fiducial marks on bothof said top and bottom surfaces, said fiducial marks on said bottomsurface being offset from said fiducial marks on said top surface insaid first direction, the magnitude and sign of such offset being equalto the magnitude and sign of the offset from said through conductors tosaid contacts.
 31. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 further comprisingat least one dielectric layer at each said interface, each dielectriclayer at each said interface having holes therein in alignment with thecontacts and terminals at such interface, said contacts and terminalsbeing connected to one another through the holes in the dielectriclayer.
 32. An assembly as claimed in claim 31 further comprising a layerof a material having anisotropic electrical conductivity at each saidinterface, said anisotropically conductive material connecting saidterminals and said contacts through said holes in said dielectriclayers.
 33. An assembly as claimed in claim 32 wherein said dielectriclayers are included in said circuit panels.
 34. An assembly as claimedin claim 33 wherein each said circuit panel includes surface conductorsextending along its top and bottom surfaces and wherein said dielectriclayers extend over said surface conductors.
 35. An assembly as claimedin claim 33 wherein said material having anisotropic electricalconductivity is an adhesive.